Begin at the Beginning ... We schedule and plan and fill each slot on our calendar with increasingly good things … and slowly, we become idolators. We worship at the altar of busy.  We lust for the feeling of checking things off our lists and we covet the praise of those who say, “I don’t know how you do it all.” Why Rest? ... From the beginning, God intended for us to rest.  He gave us His example of resting in Genesis, His commandment to rest in Exodus, and throughout Scripture we ... [Read More]

Yesterday I mentioned that while we are called to labor in the vineyards, we are equally commanded to rest in the still meadows.    Meditation is one of best tools I know to practice slowing.    Today,  I invite you to join me in meditating on Psalm 23.   To begin, read this familiar passage aloud, taking time to pause between each phrase. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me ... [Read More]

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God ... Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God  brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.  Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.  Deuteronomy 5:12-13, 15 Here's the logic of the Sabbath command in Deuteronomy:  Don't revive ... [Read More]

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God ... For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  Exodus 20:8-9, 11 The Exodus command, with its call to imitation, plays on a hidden irony:  we mimic God in order to remember we are not God.  In fact, that is a ... [Read More]

We're moving.  Back home to north Alabama.  In two weeks. Exactly.  Fourteen days to pack my house and clear up loose ends here.  Fourteen days to make sure everything is ready for our arrival there.  Fourteen days. To say that my life has suddenly gotten crazy and the idea of writing a series on rest over these next couple of weeks seems absolutely ridiculous would be an understatement.   But, the truth is, I'm learning to rest in the chaos.   I'm doing what needs to be done each day ... but ... [Read More]