Rest for your soul...

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"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:29
"...rest for your soul." Yes, that is something that I confess I need quite often. The cares of life, at the end of the day will bring one to that point. Either you can continue to try and carry the situations in your life that weigh heavily on you, or you can choose to say "Okay Lord, it's too much...here take it."
I have learned that as I have gotten older and more mature in my walk with the Lord, I am less willing to try and hold on and be the problem solver.  I KNOW that I can't walk this journey alone, so by the end of the the day I quickly shed the "weight" and gladly give it to Him.

I am learning to really enjoy the things I like doing.  I believe that each of us have a special gift, hobby, talent if you will and God gave it to us so that we can have "rest" for our souls. For instance I LOVE to read good books, it relaxes me and takes me to places that I enjoy "seeing" and experiencing.  Even as a child growing up, both my parents encouraged us to love books.  My mother loved reading and would read to me as well; and my father who worked at a Paper Mill, would "rescue" books, sometimes classics in great condition from the refuse pile.  He would proudly bring home his "treasures" to us,  and I would devour every one. We had a bookshelf in our home filled with such books. I learned at an early age that I could "visit" Victorian England, Prince Edward Island ,Canada and even Mythical Mt. Olympus from the comfort of my home,any time I wanted, just by reading a book.

I loved going to the library.  Call me crazy, but there is something about walking into a library and getting a good smell of books...it makes me relax and have... rest for my soul. I have had an ongoing relationship with the public library, even as a kid going there and sitting in the aisle with a book, made me feel... rest for my soul.

I thank God for taking my yoke and carrying it when it is too much for me. He is so faithful to be my burden bearer over and over again.  I also thank Him for helping me to learn to relax in Him by taking time to enjoy the things that give... rest to my soul.

What do you enjoy doing? Is it reading, gardening, knitting...?  Make sure you take time in your day to get "rest for your soul".

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