Releasing the burdens, resting the soul.
Every year, like most people, I come up with a new “word of the year.” Last year I reflected on grace and wrote Finding Grace in Unexpected Places. It was about giving myself, and others, more grace. I started thinking about my word for 2020 at the end of November, I gave myself a month to let it sink in. At the time, I was in a season of rest, rest from a busy and hectic past 10 months. Rest from schedules, sports, running kids around, and from always going. I was exhausted and was finally enjoying a less busy life. I was resting. My family was resting, we were all resting. Blog posts contain affiliate links. When you click on these links I earn a small commission that helps keep this blog running and support my family. If you have any questions, feel free to read my disclaimer and privacy policy. Thank you! I’m still resting. I’ve resisted this; it’s not like me to be able to sit still and stop doing. I can’t NOT do something or I feel lazy and unaccomplished. My whole life has been on-the-go and I’ve always relied on myself to keep it going. If I wasn’t doing, I was thinking about what I could or should be doing. In bed, sitting down, driving, whenever I wasn’t doing something I was thinking about what I would need to be next. I still do, I resist rest. So it should be no surprise that my word of 2020 is rest. But it will be a surprise to anyone who knows me. I would love for my rest to include laying out on a beach somewhere, listening to the waves, and reading a book with no agendas, deadlines, or work. But the reality is, I need to find real rest in everyday life.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28
For the next several months I will be resting, my rest may not look like yours but it will be my own version of it. I will be resting my soul. It will be releasing the burdens of having to do and carry loads that are not mine to haul. It will be sleeping instead of worrying. And investing time in the Word of God, to feed my mind and soul. And work will be more quiet times in front of my computer writing, with music flowing and coffee in my hand. It will be stillness and quiet. It will be less of wondering what I’m doing next and more living (and resting) within the moment.
Do you have a word of the year?
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