Pockets of Rest

Hello hello. It's nice to be here again. I have exactly twenty-seven minutes before I need to make hot dogs and baked beans for supper. There's a freshly bathed puppy whining in my laundry room. She also just peed on my rug so I'm not finding her as adorable in this moment as you might imagine. This has been the summer of the puppies. (See photos at the bottom if you care about puppies.) It's been fun. Except for the hole in my flower bed that is so deep my girls pretend it's another country. Rest in peace, my beautiful sedum that was about to grace my fall tablescapes. Speaking of fall, can someone please explain which season we are in? Its September and the trees are loosing their summer green but it's still ninety-eight degrees! Should I bake a pumpkin pie? Should I jump back in the pool? I'm confused. I'm also really tired. Chad and I have entered a new season of parenting in which our girls understand everything. So we (mostly me) save up all. the. words. for when they are asleep. Which is fine. Except that much talking = not much sleeping. How are you enjoying this run on paragraph? Should we take a breath?

Aaaah, that's better. 

Can I tell you about something I'm learning regarding rest? First, a little back story. 

Sometimes my brain forgets how to sleep. Usually, this only lasts a few nights and I'll return with joy to the land of slumber. Sometimes it lasts longer than a few nights. This spring, it lasted a whole, long, miserable month. No matter what I did, I could not escape the feeling of being plugged into an outlet. My brain was like a worn out refrigerator that would not stop humming. I almost lost my mind, but I also learned a few things. 

I learned that the solution to my insomnia was not doing more more more. I tried that. I assumed that by never stopping I would eventually wear myself out enough that sleep would be inevitable. That’s not what happened. Instead, I crawled into bed, physically wasted but mentally on fire.

Only after talking to someone older and wiser did I realize that the solution wasn't to do more, it was to do less. I needed to say no to some things. I needed to quiet some of the noise. I also needed to embrace and prioritize what I call "pockets of rest." Let me explain.

In the middle of our hectic lives it's easy to fantasize about Getting Away. The mountains (the beaches, the rivers, the cabins) are calling and we must go, right? Sometimes that works out and hallelujah. Sometimes it doesn't work out and then what? Does that mean we forgo rest all together? This is where pockets of rest come sweeping in to save the day. 

Lying in a hammock while listening to the waves might not an option right now but could I add a little bit of rest into my ordinary day? Could I push pause for ten or fifteen minutes and experience rest right here? The answer is almost always yes and the options for what this could look like are endless. Here are some of my favorite pockets. 

Taking a bath with the window open so I can hear the night sounds.

Turning my phone on silent and putting it out of sight for a few hours.

Running home after an evening church service. (We live just two miles from church.)

Sitting on the front porch to drink my coffee.

Taking a book to read in the school pick up line.

Lying in the grass and watching clouds with the girls.

Setting a timer and reading for twenty minutes.

Walking the puppies around our field.

My hope in sharing this list is that you can notice and prioritize your own pockets of rest. Lean all the way into them. Let them soak into your soul. Getting Away is good and necessary sometimes but I think learning to rest in the middle of the crazy is even more vital to living a whole and vibrant life. It just might even help you sleep at night. 

(female puppy, Isa)

(male puppy, Esbon)