Rest

My pastor gave a wonderful sermon on rest a few weeks ago. Today I'm trying to follow his/His advice. I've been very busy lately, overwhelmed a bit by all that's going on in my life. Today I need to let go a bit and not feel like I need to be accomplishing something every minute of the day.

I'm listening to one of my favorite singers, Roger Whittaker. I love his fatherly voice and the messages that so many of his songs carry. It's comforting to listen. And I will write here today, just emptying myself a bit, not trying to say anything terribly wise, not trying to play teacher, preacher, or mother, something I tend to do.

The sun is shining in and the house is warm. I have been puttering, trying to tidy things a bit. A person can clean up and be resting at the same time, can't she? Sometimes it's more stressful looking at the mess around you than it is to take action and clean it up.

Yesterday we had the second meeting of the group. Another small attendance, but that's ok. The time was valuable to those of us who were there. I'm finding that some people who attend really yearn to have a place where they can talk about their faith and how it relates to their mood disorder. I know we are needed and I have faith that, with time, our attendance will go up. How many we have is not really important. Simply serving the people who ARE there is important enough. And where two are gathered together... When I got home, there was a message from someone else who wanted to know how to get to our church. He may come next time.

This afternoon I will go for a walk with a friend, a dear person with whom I've never had a chance to connect one on one. I'm looking forward to it. She is a follower of Christ too, though we've never had an opportunity to talk about our faith together. She also struggles with things in life, though her problems are not related to moods.

My mom-in-law is sick and I'm concerned about her. She's 95 and coughing badly. Last year we almost lost her when she got pneumonia. Everyone was expecting her to die, but miraculously she recovered. It was amazing to watch her recover. It was a joyous experience when she began to be able to eat the thickened juice and thickened soups that we fed her slowly, spoon by spoon. She had to learn to swallow all over again. Over the last few months she has been working on quilts with a quilter's guild she belongs to. She is still a vibrant person, an amazing individual. A doctor will go and see today her at the home she lives in. I pray that God will be with her as she struggles once again.

Well, that's enough for now. I'm finding this blogging wonderful, but addictive too. And I must begin spending more time on my book. If there are days I don't write here, you will know that I'm writing somewhere else.

BTW, My book is inspired by Psalm 40. Can you relate?

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.