More than beauty sleep

It seems that every dude has (or had) ADD. As a ten year old I remember thinking of nothing worse than sittling in a desk all day at school or getting grounded. I kind of wish someone would ground me once in a while so I would just chill out in my room for a day or two. I would always start to squirm once it seemed like the southern baptist preacher had been going for at least ten hours- it was time to play outside! Anyone who is a teacher can tell you the same thing- the most normal boys have problems paying attention. I am beginning to see the habits I have formed while going through life as a "normal" boy. The most prevailent one is that of that of constant activity. When I call a friend I often skip the old "How are you doing?" and go staight for the "What's going on?" I seem to be more fixated on what I am doing than who I am becoming. It has only been in the past two years that I have come to a realization about this frenzy of constant activity that fills my brain, and in these last few years I have learned to deeply value one of God's greatest gifts. REST. I'm not just talking about sleep, but about a blessing God promises his people. The Old Testament is full of curses breathed out on wicked nations that they will never enter God's rest. Rest is not valued in our culture, in fact, it's often looked misconstrued as laziness. SO WHAT IS REST? While it might be hard to explain, it's easy to know when you've had it... a clearing of your head, a long sunset, a relaxing nap in a lounge chair, a time when you and friend sat silent next to one another for an hour, a walk in the mountains, a paddle in the canoe, a walk to a friend's house, a long chat over sweet tea on a neighbor's porch, a dinner that lasted three hours, or sharing a tall cup of coffee with your favorite book. THAT is rest. A time to just be, to relax and let life soak in and not think about a list of things to get done. Psalm 46 encourages us to be still and know that God is God, that He's big, and that He has everything under control. I love that Psalm because it suggests that when activity stops a clear realization of God's presence can begin. Does it seem weird to anyone that we work ourselves to death so we can get more vacation? Isn't there a happy every-day medium? I truly believe there is, but it takes intentional thought as we fight a counter-cultural battle to lessen the activity and increase the time that we feel like something more than robot. Rest makes us realize that we're human again, catch our breath, and smile at the little things. Those things all sound good, but why do so few people take intentional time to do them? Here is a list of things that might help you enter God's rest in the midst of the craziness of life. Feel free to leave comments if you have more ideas. - Turn on your favorite worship song and dream about what heaven will be like - Skip the TV show you watch every week and take a walk instead - Recline the seat in your car during lunch and turn on some sweet tunes - Have a cookout - Sit in silence - Have a friend over for a sleep over (no one is ever too old for a sleep over) - Chase a sunset - Go camping for the weekend - Stoke up a campfire - Eat dinner on your deck - Get up extra early on a week day - Get up extra late on a Saturday - Invite a good friend over for a long dinner - Drink lots of sweet tea!!! - Wait thirty minutes before ordering your meal at a restaurant - Read your Bible instead of the sports page - Go find a friend's hot tub - Take a Sunday drive with the windows down - Grab a friend and walk to the store to get ice cream - Paddle into the middle of a lake with a friend...or by yourself - Sit on the rocking chairs on the front porch of Cracker Barrel - Plan a picnic - Curl up and read a good book - Pack a sack lunch instead of eating fast food - Drive to a lookout point at night and sit in a camping chair - Pray...a lot - Postpone dirty laundry or dishes for a day to get outside - Plan a night to do nothing - Take an easy bike ride after work - Go to bed early - Brush the dust off an old instrument and play your favorite song - Move to the south (just kidding...only partially) - Turn off the cell phone for a few hours - Re-read Psalm 46 - Remind yourself that life is a marathon, not a sprint