Are you hustling or resting your summer away?

It’s Monday morning and we’ve just come off the 4th of July festivities. You may be like me where you spent the weekend eating hot dogs, brats, Mac salad, fruit, cookie after cookie, and crafting fun red, white and blue mocktails. We spent the weekend with loved ones, stayed up late, and spent the majority of the weekend outside.

It’s now Monday morning and to say I’m exhausted is not me being a dramatic millennial. This weekend can already be tiring, but add in three kids ages 7 and under, with messed up sleep schedules, and sugar crashes and you have one exhausted mama. You too?

As I rocked my youngest this morning, I found myself going, “Summer is slipping away. Did we do everything we wanted to do?” You may be like me where you find yourself trying to cram everything into the summer because somehow the school year is more chaotic than an afternoon filled with kids running around the splash pad, throwing water balloons, and seeing how fast everyone can devour a popsicle.

This makes me ask the question again, “Did we do everything we wanted to do?”

Now, if you’re someone who wants to knock out all these bucket list items you may know the answer: yes or maybe no. Yet, for our family, it isn’t so much “Did we do this certain activity?” as much as it’s “Did we soak in the sun? Did we spend time together? Did we relax and unwind?” It’s a little more hard to quantify, but it’s the questions that personally I think are more important.

Did you go slow this summer? Did you spend time enjoying one another? Did you rest?

We live in a world that wants to tell us to run and run some more, but I think Jesus sets a beautiful example that running isn’t always productive. For example, in Luke 5:12-16 it says this:

While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesusstretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.”And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” ¹⁵ But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Great crowds gathered and yet he went away to pray.

If this happened in today’s world we would immediately write that person off and speak on how selfish they are being to others. We’d shout at them to heal those people, serve with a joyful heart, and quote some Bible verse out of context to justify our reasoning. Yet, we are modeled right here and taking a moment to rest between our ministry work is just as important. I mean, Jesus doesn’t HAVE to rest. He’s the Son of God! Yet, He does. Personally, I think He does because He knew that we’d forever struggle with this hustle and bustle issue.

Friend, wherever you fall today on the meter of exhausted and the meter of “Let’s sneak in one more thing.” I pray that you also take time to rest. I pray you take time to sit on your porch, sip some coffee, and breathe in the fresh air. I pray you put down your phone, pick up your baby, and cuddle. I pray you walk your dogs the long way home as you savor the sunset. I pray that you call the friend and just chat about your day (true 90s style). Most importantly, I pray you open your Bible and be refreshed by the words of Jesus. For Jesus is the only true refreshment that never runs dry.