Rest

By Lori Freeland –

Let’s be real.

There’s a season for everything, right? Even rest? So why does it feel like rest is something to be equated with lazy?

Do you wake up wondering how long until bedtime? Wonder how you’ll get everything done by the end of the day? Do you rush to finish things early in the morning before your energy level tanks below barely registering?

Maybe you’re a ragged mom, who spends more time in the car than at home. Why can’t someone just hurry up and invent a washer/dryer set that fills itself, washes, and switches loads?

Perhaps you homeschool numerous kids in multiple grades and spend your life repeating K-12. The good news is fourth grade math gets easier every year you practice it. At least remember to cheer yourself on for the A’s you’re finally making now. Fractions are hard.

Could you be a desperate-to-be-published novelist lost and obsessed in her fantasy world, staying awake until four am to churn out pages because that’s when it’s finally quiet?

Or maybe you embody all three like me.

I push myself too much. Feel guilty when I don’t. Terrified that if I let go for a second, everything will fall apart. No more clean underwear in the drawers. No homework graded and set up for next week. No name on the cover of a book. Not my name, anyway.

But I can’t run full-speed forever. None of us can.

Enter rest.

Not retirement-like rest. Just a few hours off here and there. I’m talking about rainy days spent in smelling the roast cooking in the crockpot. Weekends used for recharging myself and reconnecting in my relationships. Nights curled up with a good book in my footy pajamas and some hot tea.

After a while, rest, like sleep, loses its optional status. I have to do it. Or I pay the price. My body gets rundown and my mind spins in confusion. Might as well take rest on my own terms.

I expect to find guilt in the cutting out process, but I know it needs to be done. Otherwise, in twenty years I’ll look back and wonder what happened to my life.

Do you know what makes it easier for me to rest? Knowing even God took a break. And He is far stronger than I am. “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work” (Genesis 2:1-3).
That slashes more than a fraction of guilt over carving out some down time.

Just so you know, I’m typing as fast as I can to get these thoughts on paper before I have to run out the door, yet again, to drive some kid to some thing and then go back and pick him up.

Houdini

By Mollie Bond –

Granddaughter Joselyn pushed back her hair with chubby hands and huffed. Her grandfather and grandmother tracked Joselyn’s progress as she learned about life. At age three, some things went over her head. But on this night, he had the privilege of explaining death.

Their cat, Houdini, actually died a year earlier. But since that time, little Joselyn came over to their house and asked, “Where is the cat?” Each time, he explained, “I’m sorry, but the cat won’t come back. He has passed on.”

At dinner, it was her chance to pray. As a proud grandfather, he allowed the precious moment to sink into his heart. She began, “God, thank You for food. And when is Grandpa’s cat coming back? Although I don’t think he can. Amen.”

Grandpa turned his thoughts to the man with a possessed son. A man came to Jesus, and asked him to heal his son, if He could. “If I can?” Jesus retorts. The man realized it’s not his faith that needed help, but rather during the times he didn’t believe. The man knew that Jesus had power to do as He pleased. He trusted God, but could his faith support healing a demonized son? Jesus used the occasion to applaud the man’s honesty. Sure, Jesus could heal his son.

Joselyn asked for the cat to come back. Would her faith to allow her to see the cat again? It’s worth asking, even with little faith. Grandpa stifled a laugh, and thanked his granddaughter. In her innocence, she asked for a cat—named Houdini—to come back. This is a miracle yet to happen, but no one shunned the girl for asking.

What do you ask for, but don’t really expect Jesus to do? Jesus healed a possessed son, so He can fulfill your prayer, too. Who knows? Just as the real Houdini escaped chains and straight jackets, maybe Houdini the cat will escape death, based on a little girl’s prayer.

PRAYER: God, I’d like to ask You for a big thing. I want to trust You when I’m up against something big. Would You help me when my faith falters and I’m not sure You can do it? Thank you for the times You do so without me asking.

“A man in the crowd answered, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.’ “‘If you can”?’ said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for one who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:17, 22-24 NIV).

The Best in the World

By Jarrod Spencer –

As the 30th Summer Olympic Games drew to a close, I had some remorse. It is always fun to see the “best in the world” come together to compete in the various sports that make up the Summer Olympic Games. Some sports gain more attention than others; some are iconic.

Through the years there have been Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton, Edwin Moses, Carl Lewis, the “Dream Team” of 1992, Mark Spitz, Florence Griffith-Joyner to name a few.

One “Cinderella” athlete this year was in women’s gymnastics, Gabby Douglas. She helped lead her team to gold in the team competition and won individual gold in the “all around.” Her story is unique. Four years ago, she mentioned that she wanted to be in the Olympics in 2012. She also wanted to be with the coach of 2008 Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson. Gabby said that it looked like Shawn and her coach were having fun, also stating that Shawn’s coach seemed to push her more than she’s been pushed before.

In order for her to have the coach she wanted, she had to go away from her home in Virginia to West Des Moines, Iowa. This meant leaving her family to go live with a sponsor family. She went through highs and lows during her time of training in a seemingly uncomfortable situation. She even wanted to quit and go back home. I know she’s glad now she didn’t!

I want us to think about how many times we may be put into an uncomfortable situation when it comes to sharing our faith. That doesn’t mean simply inviting someone to church. Maybe someone is struggling in life and we don’t know if we should say “Let’s pray” or “I’ll be praying” because we don’t know how they will respond. Imagine what the outcome might be if you would “go for the gold.” I challenge you to work through any areas of discomfort and follow through with what you might be passing up.

PRAYER: Thank You, Father for how you work in our lives to make us potential “winners” in the Kingdom. May we work through our uncomfortable tendencies and “go for the gold” for You.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (II Corinthians 12:9 NIV).

10 Things I Learned

By Kim Stokely –

Well, the day has finally come. My youngest has gone off to college. For my friends who are still battling the mommy blues, wondering what happened to your life, I provide the following 10 things I’ve learned about surviving the early years.

10. Most unauthorized things they eat won’t kill them. My children survived eating cookies they’d made out of Play-Do and various old cereal pieces they found on the floor. I’m not saying to let them get into the ant bait, but really, a bug or two won’t hurt them.

9. Germs are smart and understand human language. They hear the word “vacation” or “deployment” and get to work. Your best laid plans will be way-laid by an ear infection or strep throat. Learn to roll with the punches and carry a small pharmaceutical department with you. Especially on road trips.

8. Let your “no” mean NO and your “yes” mean SURE THING. Never confuse either of these words with MAYBE.

7. This one is a corollary to #8. If you’ve threatened a consequence for a behavior, follow through with it, even if it means more pain for you. A dinner out in a restaurant often became take-out when we had waiters pack up our food to go.

6. The best toys are free or really cheap. Walks in the trees became grand adventures in the Hundred Acre Woods. The latest gadgets soon broke or were forgotten, but a picnic lunch in the toy closet with flashlight became a lasting memory.

5. You can’t spoil children by giving them things you want to give them, but by giving them things they demand. It’s a subtle but important difference kids pick up quickly.

4. As often as you can, eat together. We rarely had conversation that I’d label intelligent, but our kids knew they were important enough that we wanted to sit down and talk with them. As they’ve gotten older, my husband and I have saved a bunch of money on tickets to movies and comedy shows. Our kids perform for us regularly over pasta bowls and sloppy Joes!

3. Be prepared to read your child’s favorite story book over and over and over again. Not just at bedtime, but several times throughout the day. You may want to gouge your eyes out, but they are learning and loving the gift of your time and the magic of a story.

2. As a corollary to #3, don’t be afraid to change things up a little when they get older. My husband got tired reading the same books to the kids at bedtime and one day changed up some of the story. It soon became a tradition to see how far he could mangle it and still come up with the same ending. I can still hear the gales of laughter coming from their bedrooms!

1. Again, I know you’ve heard it from a lot of people, but these early years do go by fast. Enjoy them for everything they’re worth: the good (when your kids think you’re superhuman, hugs after bath time when they’re still warm and their hair smells like baby shampoo), the bad (temper tantrums in Wal-Mart, birthday parties with 15 screaming pre-schoolers), and the ugly (stomach flues at midnight). Know that there is life after parenthood, although you may have a few more gray hairs and a little less of your sanity.

Burton Family Christmas in July

By Diane Mayfield –

The weekend after the Fourth of July, my brother, sister and I with our spouses, children and grandchildren held our first Burton Family Christmas in July. It was a blast.

Usually we all gather at my house on Christmas Day. Now that some of the cousins are married, Christmas gatherings are more complicated. Then we added two grandbabies and two more on the way. Getting together on the holidays blew up as the family expanded.

This is a family that grew up playing together. We enjoyed many beach vacations as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas. None of us wanted to lose connection and we all wanted to know the babies and the new spouses. So the idea of The Burton Family Christmas in July came to light.

I rented a house on Lake Travis with a pool and a boat dock for the adult siblings and spouses to stay in. That would be our home base. Dave and I currently lease a house not far from Lake Travis that would accommodate all the cousins. The two houses were only 10 minutes a part.

Dave and I went over earlier than the others were scheduled to arrive to check out the place. We discovered that our lake house with its boat dock sat on dry land. Due to the drought in Texas, the cove was dry. Oh, what a disappointment. The good news was that the marina where we dock our boat was only 5 minutes away. In fact, we drove the 6- passenger golf cart over there. The pool was great. There were even two grills under an outdoor cabana for the cooking of our steaks and vegetables on Saturday night. Four bedrooms and a large kitchen and living space easily would accommodate the sixteen of us.

Gary and Marilyn, my brother and sister-in-law, arrived a day early so we could enjoy the house all to ourselves for a time. Then we started to decorate. I stayed with the Fourth of July theme instead of Christmas. We put up 75 little flags in the flowerbeds lining the front of the house. The American flag and Texas flag flew in proper order on the pineapple finials at the front gate. Next, we decorated the six-passenger golf cart with cheesy red, white, and blue bling and made a sign for the back of it declaring the “The Burton Family Christmas machine.”

Friday afternoon, everyone began to arrive. The kitchen filled with food. The refrigerator overflowed with ingredients that promised to fill our stomachs to the max. The kitchen echoed with chatter. Coolers with drinks lined the back porch. It felt like a true Christmas holiday.

Some jumped in the pool. Others baked and created delicious offerings in the kitchen. Deck chairs were pulled together for conversation. We all delighted in just being together.

We did not exchange gifts.

Maybe for the first time, we got it right. We gave the gift of ourselves in conversation, in play and in working together to prepare meals. I think it was the best Burton Family Christmas ever.

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