Where is the Rest???

 This is another calendar post...

You may remember in the past how I have shared my calendar problems. If you haven't, I'll just let you know that the problem is that I often overfill my calendar. I like to try to do EVERYTHING, which isn't wise or realistic. With summer being halfway over, I am even more eager than usual to get all the stuff in that we normally can't do in other seasons. For instance, here is a sample of the last week:

Saturday: went to the library midway event (which was awesome), cleaned house, and had friends over for a bbq.

Sunday: the kids, mom, and I dropped off their fair entries (a 1.5 hour drive), drove another hour to shop at Costco, picked peaches 185 lbs of peaches, and drove home. I finished Asher’s birthday presents and made the cupcakes for his party after we got home (awake until 1:30 am).

Monday: Asher's birthday party (a full day of swimming and partying) and a BBQ at my parents' house.

Tuesday: went blueberry picking (1 hour drive), visited a nursery, drove back home and made dinner, took the kids to VBS (another 1 hour drive from home), and watched the parking lot movie at the library (awake til 12 am).

Wednesday: canned peaches and took the kids to VBS again.

Thursday: I did my 3 hour glucose test at the hospital (which took four hours), made the next I-Spy display for the library's summer reading program and dropped it off, drove the kids to a friend's house and then drove back to pick them up.

Friday: drove 1.5 hours to get to the fair, stayed at the fair all day, and then drove home (got home around 1 am).

So...kind of crazy, right? I'm not sharing this to brag, I'm sharing this to make a point.

All these things that I did this past week were good things. They were fun, and I got a lot of joy in doing them. But you know what I didn't get? REST. And rest is kind of important...

In the NKJV, the word "rest" is only present 546 times. I am aware that not all of these "rest"s are speaking of taking a break, but I do know that resting is spoken of 44 times in the new testament alone. And taking a day off was one of the first ten things that God commanded for His people when He got them started as an independent nation. So I think God knows how important it is for us to take breaks.

Especially we crazy mamas, who work so hard and always have so much to do!

Yesterday I went through my remaining boxes of peaches (we were not able to can all of them on Wednesday). And guess what I found? A lot of rotten ones. I had bitten off more than I could chew when I brought home so many. I had planned to can them on Saturday, but after a day at the fair (and the whole busy week in general) my body just wasn't up to doing that. I could have made myself do it, of course, but wisdom prevailed and I spent the day alternating between resting and basic housework.

Usually I'm angry with myself when I let food go to waste, but sorting through those peaches was a good reminder to me about how I handle my time and the expectations I put on myself (and my family). So I cut the bad off the peaches and used the good to make a delicious cobbler and put the rest of the peaches into the fridge. We may be making and eating cobbler all week, haha! 

I want you to learn from my mistakes, dear mamas, and take some breaks. Allow yourself to have rest. Don't fill your calendar to overflowing. If it helps, block out an entire day for just staying home. 

Your kids need that, too.

Lots of love,

Lee