In case you didn’t know it (and I am sure if you’ve been around for any length of time!), you know how much I LOVE picture books! My favorite part of our school day is when I just pull a picture book off the shelf and make time for an impromptu, for absolutely no reason other than it brings me joy, Read Aloud time of fun. I have found that if I keep a nice stack of them on my Library shelf (and if I make sure to grab a few during our weekly visit to the library!) that I’m more likely to make this important “hook” of our day happen. Having a picture book is a great break time and it’s makes those natural transitions from something that is more “fun” (our current science book!) into something less fun (English!) for my kiddos. (I try to keep these transition picture books more geared towards fun, and less geared towards being a “tie-in” to our current spine, or area of study! Lately, I’ve bee gravitating towards books that have a more Fall theme, especially as my kiddos are eagerly awaiting their first real fall! )
I could go on and on and on about my love of picture books! I mean really, what is NOT to love? It’s a natural, and easy way to introduce children to vocabulary, to concepts you want them to learn anyways, and there is typically a fun story, with amazing pictures to hold everybody’s interest (and I find that the picture books are the ones they will all grab off the shelf without being asked to, or told to go grab a book! Win/win, right?)
And this morning, this momma remembered a very important lesson thanks to Flora’s Very Windy Day, by Jeanne Birdsall (I highly recommend this picture book, by the way! Super sweet story, and very realistic sibling relationship playing out in the story, with of course, a very important lesson!). What struck me, though, was this poor momma. She is clearly tired, worn out by her arguing children (who I can tell from experience are really just trying to get her attention!), and she’s got what looks like a pile of work, and I can only imagine (again from experience!), a very cold, already warmed twice, cup of coffee…..it’s like the story of my life (not to mention the whole problem is set off because the little brother has destroyed something of his sisters because, of course she has not put it away out of her little brother’s reach…..which my daughter pointed out is the exact same issue we have on a daily basis in our house…….)
While there are so many things that I could share with this momma, or even tell her if we were able to get away for a cup of coffee together, the most important thing, and what I’ll share with you, is REST! This momma clearly needs some rest (as we all do!). Are you feeling frazzled, like you are doing it all, like things are just running at 120 plus miles per hour, and there is so much to do and not enough time to get it all done? Well, when was the last time you RESTED? Rest is GOOD. Rest is important, rest is even holy, blessed by God himself!
We recently studied the days of Creation in detail, and all of my children were quick to point out that on the Seventh Day God rested. My fifth grader was very astute in his observation, because he pointed out, God does not need to sleep. God does not need to eat. Yet, God had just spent 6 days Creating- making everything from scratch (EVERYTHING! I get pretty excited these days because I can make Scones from scratch, but WOW! God literally made every particle, ion, every little everything from nothing, and it was GOOD, sometimes my scones are a little less than good…..but everything He made was GOOD!). He was doing important work. Good work. Vital work. All the things kind of work……..does that sound familiar? How many of us are doing all the things? Whether it is ALL the home things, all the schooling things, all the work things, all the all the all the……..and it is exhausting! Rest. Rest is good.
When we are doing all the things, and walking around completely exhausted, we aren’t able to take that moment to breathe in the fall air. We don’t notice the leaves subtly changing colors. We don’t hear the sweet, I love you the last numbers, that our five year old whispers to us in his sleep…….we miss so much. And then the little things, the little fights between our children, the upset with their spelling words, that post we needed to get written like yesterday- it all seems so much bigger, so much more difficult, so much more than it really is. Rest.
I know how hard it is to rest. Trust me! We have never lived near family, and almost immediately, I’ve juggled more children than I had hands to tend to. But if you don’t show your children how to rest, how will they ever learn how to rest? It’s so easy to get caught up in all the have to’s, the to do lists and planning all the plans, but maybe what we need most is to take a breath and rest.
Find those moments of rest in your days, in your weeks and in your month. They are little presents just waiting for you to receive them! For our daily rhythm of rest, we all take the 15-20 minutes after lunch to sit in the living room, we either have quiet reading time, or we listen to an audio book together while working on a puzzle, or coloring, sometimes even having a cup of hot tea. For weekly rest, I plan my week so that do a 4-day school week, meaning that every Friday is my day to reset. I have time to plan for the coming week, to sort out what worked during the week and what didn’t. I also plan at least one day of rest a month so I can really reset and focus.
So my hope for you today sweet friends is that you are able to find rest. That you remember that your worth doesn’t come from what you are making, creating, or even your business, YOU are valuable beyond measure simply because the CREATOR created you, and He made you GOOD. I pray that you are able to find peace in your day and that you find the rest you so desperately need.
How are you planning to find rest today?
~Jessica