“Let’s take the kids sledding this morning.”
My eyes had barely cracked open, but my mind began whirring at high speed. I was already imagining tracking down all of the kids’ snow gear, making food, and then spending the day shivering in the great outdoors.
“I think we’re both burnt out a bit,” my husband coaxed, “It will be good for all of us to get out and do something together.”
He was right, even though what he was suggesting didn’t compute. This week alone had been packed with stress, deadlines, and emotional and spiritual heaviness. What made logical sense was to plow through the day and get on top of some loose ends at home. But not long after our first cup of coffee, we were searching for gloves and making sandwiches.
Trudging up the side of the mountain was hard work. On one hip I balanced the two-year-old and dragged the sled with my other arm. But when I finally reached the top and could look around, the stillness of the forested hillside began to quiet the building anxiety in my soul.
The first few runs down the hill were bumpy, and we crashed multiple times into soft clouds of snow. But all of us were smiling and laughing. The sharpness and edge I had been feeling were wearing off. And just as each run and repeated hike back up the mountain smoothed our path, I was feeling a softening and tugging loose of some things I had been squeezing too tightly.
In Matthew 11:28-29 (ESV) Jesus calls to the tired and burnt out. He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
That evening my husband and I tag-teamed the laundry after the kids fell asleep. In playing and laughing with our family, and now folding clothes side by side, we had stumbled upon some unexpected rest for our souls.
What are some unexpected ways that you have been met with rest for your soul?
