A Day of Rest

The Lord really knew how we are when He assigned a day of rest to mankind. We need rhythm in life. We really stagnate when we just do the same thing day after day with no change-up. Sometimes our rest doesn't come on the traditional day of rest, which I've always been told is Sunday. Today is Wednesday, and circumstances dictate this is a resting day for me.

Friday was a traveling day. I flew from San Diego to Portland, and have been visiting with my youngest daughter, Beth, and her extended family on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I babysat my youngest grandson, Martyn, Monday and Tuesday. That was a precious experience that I will always cherish. What a sweet and good baby. But for an old lady like me who hasn't had a baby all day since his mama was a baby, (and she's twenty-nine today), it was fun-but-tiring.

Today I'm in Independence, Oregon, resting at my older daughter Rachel's home while she and her husband are away at work. It's going to be a day of Rest, Reading, and Relaxation. Quiet. Un-pressured. Peaceful. I hope.

I've known people who don't like Alone Time, but I've always enjoyed periods of solitude. Being the middle of a "passel of youngun's" as Daddy called us, I didn't have a lot of alone time when I was a kid. I learned then to appreciate it when I did have the option to do whatever I wanted. As an adult, I worked at home and on outside jobs, and even on Sundays I "worked" at Church. I used to wonder why Sundays were called the Day of Rest, because they weren't, for me.

I loved to read, but was always being interrupted.

I loved to sew, but we were told, "You ain't s'posed to sew on Sunday." I always wondered about that... Why not? Perhaps to some, sewing was work, but to me it was relaxation.

I loved to take naps, but then really didn't feel good after waking up. Throughout my younger life we went to Church not only on Sunday mornings, but evenings as well. To me, Sunday was a working day.

Saturday is the real Sabbath Day, but in the tradition that I grew up that was house-cleaning day. Since cleaning is not my favorite thing, I really consider it hard work. Sometimes on Saturdays, I worked harder at avoiding the cleaning than I would have worked had I cleaned.

Anyway, today, Wednesday the 29th of June, Beth's 29th birthday (though I'm not with her today), I'm planning to kick back and read or do whatever else I may find to do that I consider "resting..." When God did all the work of creating everything, He rested. He stopped creating new stuff that hadn't been made in the previous six days.

Now, that didn't mean He never worked again. He is always at work, and it sure is a good thing. But He just rested from all the stuff He had been doing during the creation time. He looked around and said, "All this stuff is really good. I like it..."

I think I'm going to like today.