Sandcastles and Daydreams

“I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” Psalm 139:18

I remember waking up with drool on my chin and lawn chair lines on my cheek. As I stirred myself back to life, the earplugs that where melted into my ears clumsily dropped out but I could still hear the same song playing that had lulled me to sleep. A quick glance up and down the miles of powdery white beach of Longboat Key revealed no girlfriend sitting beside me as she was when I drifted away. The aqua blue waves were darkened a bit by the lowering afternoon sun and the sound of busy sea gulls. I gathered myself together and stretched my arms up and my toes down as I rolled off the beach chair and headed towards the cottage hiding under the Banyan trees behind me.

I could smell food cooking as I approached the rickety screen door and could see my friend happily humming and working in the tiny kitchen. The squeaky door warned her of my intrusion.

“There you are sleepy head. I was just about to come after you. Dinner is all ready”.

My friend had prepared a fresh fried fish, shrimp and hushpuppy dinner for me along with her world class chopped salad and a big glass of sweet tea. Oh my, I was overwhelmed. It was precious.

“Why didn’t you wake me up to help with dinner!!?” I asked.

“You needed to rest Pat! You are wiped out and you cannot keep up this pace!” she responded in no uncertain terms. As we sat down to dinner, my friend continued her soft but no holding back declaration about my burned-out condition and began to warn me, not for the first time, about how I needed to find time for rest and restoration in order to keep going.

                                         God can do what He needs to do through you –WITHOUT YOU!

My life has always been lived in the fast lane.

Rest and Restoration time is a lifelong challenge for me.

As I write these words, I am less than a week away from a series of 4 speaking engagements followed by a retreat themed on REST! I’m not even kidding!! You see I, like you, have way more than one thing in my heart and living out through my life at any given moment.

On top of a very full speaking and writing ministry, I have a husband, three grown children, 3 in-law-loves and five grands. I have three sisters, tons of nieces and nephews, friends, a church, a neighborhood, dirty laundry and an empty refrigerator.

I’ll bet you can relate!

People are always commenting on how “busy” I am but honestly, I feel like everyone I know is pretty much just as busy. Life is a fast-moving moment-to-moment whirlwind of passing days. Every “big” birthday seems to get “bigger” and come faster. I know I am not alone in this, all my friends and family seem to be spinning just as much as me.

However, Life Unstuck demands UnStuck rest and Restoration! God will not honor anything less! THAT is why I am hosting REST QUEST--not only for my GUESTS but for me! We all need to choose times and places of EXTENDED SABBATICAL! Times when our only focus and our single agenda is hearing God’s still small voice.

It must be an intentional journey!

God demands that we not only rest our bodies and our minds but He demands that we rest our SPIRITS in Him. Life Unstuck requires a balance of assignments and rest.

I hope you will take a look at the details of my retreat but in the meantime, what is ONE WAY you could set aside some time for REST in the middle of the mess?

I’d love hear from you,

Pat