Retreat Weekend

This past weekend, I went on a women's retreat with our church. 125 women descended upon Williamsburg for a weekend of rest, learning, and all things girly. We've only been a part of Hope for a few months and our wacky schedules don't really allow for us to get out there, meet people and get involved. I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to meet a number of other women from all walks and seasons of life, although the introvert in me began craving some solitude by about lunchtime on Saturday--only halfway through the retreat!

The hardest part of the weekend was being away from Brennan. It was my first weekend away from him, and I really tried hard not to worry and wonder if Daddy was going to remember everything I told him before I left. They did fine, and Brennan even got his first kid's meal ever at Wendy's when they were out over lunchtime. It was pretty special to come back home, and my boy just kept hugging me. Awww...

As for the teaching, I really appreciated the over-arching theme of rest. Now, as a mother of a toddler, rest really only comes when he is sleeping (or with Daddy). Rest used to be such a natural part of life. I had my classes or full-time job, but then I had distinct hours of freedom where I could do homework, clean, or just plain rest and relax. I still have some freedom during my days, but it is much more limited. While I still take time out to rest, that rest usually consists of an occasional nap, reading (devouring) my latest book, or (more recently) playing the Wii. It's rare these days for my times of rest to include time spent with God. When it happens, it's difficult for those quiet times to extend longer than maybe 20 minutes.

The easy answer is that life happened, distractions happened--many things have interfered to keep this girl off her knees and occupied with other things. It didn't used to be like this. In college, I had an entire year that I set apart Sundays for a Sabbath rest. No studying, more time spent in the Word, more time spent fellowshiping with my brothers and sisters in Christ. These days, I'm not so sure that setting apart an entire day for a Sabbath is realistic. Maybe I need to start small...set aside an hour or two a week for some quiet time to hang out with Jesus and reflect on life with Him. On a good day, Brennan will nap for 2 or 2 1/2 hours, which will give me plenty of time for such an activity.

While the spirit may be willing, the flesh is certainly weak! Distractions abound, and I must find a way to tame those impulses to spend time doing everything but having time with Jesus. As I ponder what it means to rest and what Sabbath rest looks like at this stage of my life, I need to remember that we have been created as human beings, not human doings. It's all part of the fun of figuring out how to incorporate life as it used to be with life as it is now.