Together We Can

A little “Jamie” fun fact: I was born in San Diego. My dad was in the Navy and my mom worked for NASSCO. With both parents working full time I had a live in nanny, who I lovingly called my Nana. My Nana is a Filipina woman. I have several memories of my Nana, even though we left California when I was five. 

When I turned seven my mom shared with me that in my Nana’s culture the age of seven was a celebrated milestone. At seven you have all the traits you have for life. 

Today, our sweet Karoline is seven and a half. Two days ago I looked up to see this written on my board...

“Together we all can be possible of many things, and all things, because we can help create something amazing in the whole wide world! 

And we can do anything, no matter how hard it may be.

—————

We can do many things, no matter how many disabilities we have!

A love for writing has begun to emerge in our girl. Her poems and thoughts are flowing and seeing her share her heart through words is beautiful and makes me SO proud.

May we all have the heart and faith of a child to see obstacles as something we can always over come, especially if we work together.

Happy half birthday, Karoline. Thank you for showing me inside your heart and for this beautiful reminder. 

How do you define rest?

rest

verb1.
cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.

noun1.
an instance or period of relaxing or ceasing to engage in strenuous or stressful activity.

1. 
   

   This morning at Catalyst Church the message talked about how when we are busy two things happen. The first being that intentional time with God goes away. It is no longer a priority. Yep, true. It is so easy for me to jump out of bed and get started on my day when I could pick up my bible for five minutes. I know for a fact I can make up those five minutes quite easily in the morning (cough, cell phone use). 

   
   

   Tim has been getting up and reading the Proverb that matches the date every morning. I am not as diligent about this and only catch one here and there. My goal for this week is to give myself five minutes of reading my bible before my feet touch the ground this week. 

   
   

   The second thing that happens when we are busy, we don't rest. When people ask me, "How are you?" I like to respond, with the fact that life is constant. Somewhere along the way I decided that maybe this seems like I'm complaining less than saying busy. It's totally the same, it's not any less of a complaint. However, as I was sitting in church I was really quite baffled by the fact that I don't know what rest means to me. I imagine that probably means I don't do enough of it. How do I define rest? Laying bed, only taking care of myself and watching a couple of movies actually does sound really darn amazing. However, that's not quite what I need any more. Plus, it's not realistic for me. I would be trying to fold laundry, make lunch, or tend to the needs of my family. It would not be true rest. 

   
   
   
   

   
   

   When I read Webster's definition of rest I did not see what I needed from the definition the first time. However, the teacher in me had me reading it a few more times before I gave up on it. Then I saw the words, "refresh oneself." This, this I my rest. When I was younger one of my favorite parts about going to ballet was that I could think of nothing else while I was dancing. All of my attention was going to what I was doing. 

   
   

   Fast forward a few years and I'm no longer in ballet. Instead I find the same mind escape to come when I am working out or running. 

   
   

   So, as strange as it sounds, I find my rest in working out. Technically I'm not "ceasing work or movement." However, for that hour I am ceasing life. I'm ceasing the thinking, the to do lists, the anxiety of life, the comparisons, the guilt, the frustrations ... and well, all of it. It just stops. 

   
   

   Not only does it stop but thankfully endorphins are also pretty amazing things and the rest of the day tends to be better because of this time I give myself. 

   
   

   My hope for this week is that in giving myself five minutes with my bible every morning that I'm able to find this same sort of "high" in another way throughout my days and week. 

   
   
   
   

   
   

   How do you define rest? Whatever that means for you, do you take the time to do it?