The Importance of Rest

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...."

"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested....then God blessed he seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

I am horrible at "resting." It's just not natural to me - I constantly have a million "to-do's" imprinted in my brain, and feel like I wasting time if I stop to rest.

Well, God decided to MAKE me stop and rest this past week, and it has taught me so much.

I honestly have had one of those weeks where nothing goes your way...and I mean this in a very light-hearted manner b/c we are so, so, so blessed and I had nothing "major" or traumatic happen to me, just a rough week where a lot of little things didn't go right....such as....

1) I had some sort of stomach bug on and off for a week, which decided to climax the one night this past week that Shaan didn't really sleep through the night (he got up at 2:30, 3:30, I was up at 4:30 with my stomach, then Shaan was up for good at 6 (and he usually sleeps until 9!)) I was in the bathroom that entire day, and felt horrible....

2) Shaan's four month checkup was the day after my worst battle with the stomach bug, and also happened to be the day of the worst weather this week (so I was stuck walking 20 blocks each way in the POURING rain with the stroller, diaper bag, etc)

3) I got some annoying mouth sore that caused me to make an emergency dentist appt. B/c the dentist appt was the same day I scheduled it (two days after my battle with the stomach bug), I couldn't get a babysitter. So, I had to drag Shaan to the dentist with me, only for the dentist to refer me to an oral surgeon. When I called the oral surgeon, I was told that they would not accept our insurance....

4) I ordered a book from Amazon called the "90 minute baby sleep patterns" b/c Shaan refuses to nap during the day a lot of times, and I don't know what I am doing wrong. After two weeks, I still didn't have the book and it was evidently lost in the mail. Amazon shipped me a replacement, and the next day the original book arrived and now I have to make a trip to the post office to return it to avoid being double-charged.

All of the above has caused me to become quite worn down and moody, unfortunately (which is so weird, b/c they are really very minor things). Up until this week, I've really felt pretty good at "parenting." I've cooked nearly every day since being by myself with Shaan (which I never did prior to baby), Shaan has gained weight appropriately (at his 4 month checkup he was in the 90th percentile, which is pretty amazing since he was less than 6 pounds when he arrived!), and I had just managed to keep things together (like laundry, grocery shopping, etc...just the little things) which I feel like is 1,000 times harder to do in NYC than anywhere else (since I have to lug the baby in the Bjorn downstairs with me to do laundry, since I don't have a car for grocery shopping, etc.) So, pat on my back for parenting until this week when I felt I failed miserably....

I had no energy to entertain Shaan due to my stomach bug and mouth sore. Honestly, all I wanted to do was rest; I just kept praying Shaan would nap so I could lay down too (which made me feel like a guilty mommy). B/c I could barely keep up with the baby, I definitely did not do any cooking, laundry, or cleaning. The apt is a DISASTER area, which also makes me feel guilty...I look at Manu and think he must wonder what it is I have been doing all day, and then I realize I don't know what I have been doing all day...

So, tonight, I was about to go to sleep when I decided I needed a few minutes of "quiet time" since I hadn't spent any time with God today. Of course I open the book right up to a section about resting and feel convicted immediately. I have been trying to do too much, and have not been taking enough time for myself to get recharged...and that REALLY is important! If God Himself needed rest, what makes me think I can get by without it!

So, here I was thinking I was going to get up at 6 am tomorrow to tidy up the apartment before Manu gets here and get my shower, so that when he gets home post-call I can run some errands, do laundry, etc...

You know what? Maybe I'll just sleep in tomorrow...well, if the baby will let me...I think Manu can stand our cluttered apartment for one more day and that I can wait until next week to do the laundry if I need to...

Right now the most important thing is that I get my rest....

Hey, God did command it after all!!!! :)