Gain REST this year!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

How many of us have read this verse before but never put it into practice?   ME!!!!!  
But, today, as I was getting a massage in Roaring Springs by Dinah, and she was praying over me and singing Selah music (which is my favorite Christian group btw), that verse came to me.   And by the way, if you ever have a chance for Dinah to give you a massage, TAKE IT!!  
Trust me, she is gifted, and you will leave her place with such peace and relaxation!

This weekend and week have been so tiring...traveling to Fredericksburg was fun for the Hill family get together.  However, Harbor woke up Saturday morning throwing up...then Haven did Monday night from 1-4am, then Avery was home sick today with stomach virus too.  So needless to say, I have been sleep deprived the last 5 days.  And I even had queasy stomach and chills all day yesterday.  So last night I did something very unusual for this energizer bunny....I took hot bath and was in bed by 745 and asleep by 9!!  Slept til 7 this morning, and you know what??  I feel much better this afternoon.  So good, that after teaching my Motley Crew workout class, I helped Avery wash and clip her goats til 9 tonight.  (I actually did more observing but I did help wash and clip a little...but thank goodness for our wonderful extension agent and his wife.   Goat was gonna need some serious help if I had done it all! lol)\

So where am I going with all this rambling???  Jesus preached in Matthew that He will give us rest if we just give it to him.  But that is not easy for all of us Mega Moms who burn both ends of the candle trying to give our kids all we want them to have or do, or for the dads who work all day, then help with homework and spend hours getting show animals ready.   We as humans, think, "If I don't take care of this, it will not get done.  Or it won't get done the way I think it should!"  That is me...guilty!!  I admit it!  Instead of just asking God daily to help us get HIS TO-DO list done, or making our list then praying over it, we try to do it all ourselves.   Then wonder why it feels like there are never enough hours in the day to get it all done!  Then we become frustrated, impatient, stressed out at ourselves, which turns into frustration and impatient with our family, friends, co-workers. 


But there was a physical reason Jesus preached this to his followers...when the body is tired, worn down, and sleep deprived, the immune system weakens.    We are in the midst of flu season, and this is when we especially need some extra z's.   Most guidelines you see recommend 7-8 hours of sleep.   You may be thinking, yeah right...what do I cut out from schedule.  Well, let's think about it in POSITIVE way.  Make a list each day of what is priority in getting done.  ie, Getting kids to school, going to watch kids play basketball, going to work, helping with homework, laundry (or not! ha).   Now look at the time you spend doing NON-priority stuff...watching TV, googling everything imaginable, reading your email full of "today only 40% off" (that would be me!  I get a Bath & Body email every day!! ha), facebook, texting.  

Again, I am preaching to the choir about this, but do you notice that electronics and technology has taken up more of our time, when it was originally going to save us time to have more time with family!!  How many times a week do we sit around playing games with our family?  Or even all sit in same room for more than an hour at night??  

My point is there are ways to use our time more wisely to get the rest our body needs.  I want to share something I noticed since I started doing a Bible plan on You Version app on my phone (I think there are some really good uses for phones, facebook, blogs etc).  I am on day 18 of reading through the Bible, and have noticed that I seem to get more done during the day.  I believe God blesses us when we give Him our time.   He is our Father, Savior, Creator...he loves us more than any person on this earth can.  Yet we sometimes we settle for just reading His Word or praying on Sundays or when we need help.  How hurt He must feel to think He gives us all we need, yet we can't give Him the only thing He wants from us?? Our time!


When I set up my plan on my You Version, I set a timer at 10pm.  It alerts me to read my Bible plan.  That is the best time of day for me, since my girls are usually asleep (my Harbor is a night owl however), and I can spend that time in the quiet of my home, just reading the Love Letters from God that He wrote to us.  Sometimes I then journal a prayer or thoughts from the day (not my to do list), and I go to sleep easily with a peace in my heart after spending that time.  This has really helped me get to bed earlier, which was a major accomplishment this new year.   There will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be something for us to do at night...laundry, dishes, check email, watch tv.  But is it worth running your body down, getting sick, missing work/school, plus expense of going to doctor??


So one of my goals for this year is to GET MORE REST!!   What does that have to do with health and fitness?  If I'm sick, I can't exercise.  (and I can be very irritable when I don't get my endorphin release from exercise!  ask my family!! haha)  When I am sick, I am not productive at home (at work for those working outside home).  When I am sick, I don't eat healthy...have you noticed fruit and veggies don't sound appealing when you are sick???  So it's easy to get off track of your healthy eating routine.  (Now granted I saw a cute sign once that said, "I'm only 1 stomach virus away from meeting my weight-loss goal!!  LOL!!)  But I don't enjoy hanging over a toilet tasting my last meal come back up for weight loss!  ugh...

So my health tip for the day, or for the rest of your life is GAIN REST!!!  Try it and see if you don't notice a difference on how you eat.   When you are exhausted, you reach for quick, processed, fat-loaded food!  See if you notice a difference in your exercise program...when rested, you can push yourself more on those doggies, froggies, and roasted pigs!!  (inside joke there for those who have done my workouts!! LOL).   Rested, your patience is better, and frustration is less.  What have you got to lose....IT'S FREE!  


I know it's 1059, and I have just stressed how important REST is...but I really wanted to share this with you all tonight.  Besides I got 10 hours of sleep last night!  Woohoo!!
But off to bed I go....


Thank you Jesus, for the rest you give us when we simply ask!  I thank you for each person who reads this, and pray you will give them the rest they need, not only to take care of their families, but to serve like YOU want us to serve.   Forgive me, Lord, when I don't give you more of my time...how it must break your heart.  Like when our kids turn into teenagers, and they don't seem to want to spend those moments just snuggling with us in bed on a Saturday morning or at bedtime.   Lord, I ask you to lay it on our hearts to not only give You the time YOU deserve, but to get the REST our body deserves!   In Jesus' name I pray these things...

Keitha Beth