"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." Matthew 5:14-15

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." Matthew 13:45-46

Saturday, April 19, 2008

A Chance to Rest and Reflect

This week did not turn out the way that I had planned it. Don't you just love when God changes 'your plans'. Monday was my youngest son's fourteenth birthday. Everything went well and he had a great time celebrating with some friends of his. Tuesday I woke up with a mission on my mind - to get the boy's portfolios put together for their home school evaluation on Friday.

I spent two days working extremely hard trying to get everything all together. But finally, by Wednesday evening I had to give in to the demands of my body - I was sick. I had been fighting a sore throat, fever, aches, etc. for a couple days and was just not getting any better. By Thursday morning I realized that I would not be able to get the portfolios finished or even make it for the evaluation. So I made phone calls to reschedule that, canceled writing club for that afternoon, scheduled a doctor's appointment for Friday, and crawled in bed.

Friday found me with an antibiotic prescription and just resting as much as possible. I am starting to feel better today, but realize how stressed I was at the beginning of the week wondering how I was going to get everything accomplished. I was given a chance to rest and reflect over the past couple days.

It is so easy to rush ahead and make plans for our days, but I must never lose sight of seeking God's face and seeing what plans He has in mind for me. Often they are quite different than I would imagine. As I had this time of forced quiet I had the opportunity to read the book Even Now by Karen Kingsbury. It was my first time to read one of her books. Through reading the book and having more time to talk with God, I was able to listen and hear Him speak about several areas in my life that need some attention and working. Even though I have not enjoyed being sick, I praise God for this time of rest He has given me. When was the last time that you took the opportunity to rest and reflect?

6 comments:

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

Great post. I so often want to know exactly where my life is headed. But resting in His control is so glorious.

Kim from Canada said...

I am sorry to read about your being sick, and I didn't want to change the subject of your post...but, what is a home school evaluation? I've been home schooling for 4 years now and never heard of it, so maybe it is a localized thing - ? Just curious. Glad your on the mend!

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Anne said...

I hope you are on the mend and feeling better! I try to get away, on a 3 day silent retreat each year. That way I can have lots of focus on my relationship with God and not have the distractions of the home. I have been blessed to go on a yearly retreat for about 12 years now. Mark is very supportive of my need to recharge and focus on God for a few days.

Many blessings,
Anne

Maggie - Mom of Six said...

I can relate to God giving us days of rest. I broke my leg two days before Christmas and went from stressing over getting everything done to just sitting on the couch and watching it happen. It had been a long time since I spent Christmas morning just watching my kids and enjoying them instead of concentrating on the next meal, trip, and/or guests.

I am glad you are feeling better.

Marilyn in Mississippi said...

In answer to your question of how long it's been since I rested and reflected on my life.....it's been TOO long! I sometimes sit down....usually at the computer.....and write or read my Christian friend's blogs....but usually I'm not resting or reflecting any awfully lot. I usually have in the back of my mind what I have to do next today, tomorrow, next week or next month and it really takes away from being able to relax in the present! Thank you for encouraging us to rest and reflect!

I hope you feel better soon!

God bless you....
Marilyn in MS