24 Hours of Rest

Recently a neighbor down the street said....."You look tired.  Come up to my families cabin for a weekend of rest.  Well, we couldn't afford to be away for a couple days (there's so much going on)....but we could afford to get away for 24 hours.  So we piled into the car and made it to Shaver Lake.  Shaver is only 45 minutes away from our house.  We live in one of Fresno's most vulnerable neighbors....it's hard to believe that only 45 minutes away it would be 19 degrees F and snowing.

When we arrived we made a fire....bundled up and snuggled.

We are convinced that this is a requirement for a souls rest.

The next morning was frosty and cold....

Everyone slept well....except Joe.  He woke up at 3am and couldn't fall back asleep.  We think that sometimes this happens because God wakes him up to pray.  His theory is that God is thinking, "we need to talk....and in the middle of the night you obviously have time for that."

As morning emerged....breakfast and sledding was the priority.

We've always loved how comfortable our kids are in the mountains.  They don't really complain about being cold, wet, and tired.  This also is a necessary condition for rest. No complaining! 

Even 24 hours in the mountains was enough to recharge us.  We are so thankful for the ways God takes care of us through people who saw a need and chose to bless us! Thank you! 

These are good days.

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Resting as a family

Once a month, our priority as a family, is to go to the beach together.  

We've done this for the last 19 months.  We rarely miss. 

It's 1 night and 1 day.  Short. Simple.

....but we're together

Patterns of rest have been an important part of our family's DNA.  We exercise together, climb together, hike together, camp together....and that is rest for us -- but it's active rest. 

At the beach each month we practice another kind of rest.

We stop.

We eat simply.

We don't "do" anything.

We rest.

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There's something about leaving

Everybody has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons 

- Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts

We haven't lived in Fresno, California for a long time (almost 13 years for Heidi and 9 years for me). We left a long time ago.

We had to leave... to obey Jesus.

...but when we return we remember what this place represents:

It's the place of family.

It's the place of rest.

It's the place of our first ministries.

It's the place of our deepest scars but of our first faith, hopes, and loves too.

Every time we return we remember how God used this place to shape us in the season we lived in its womb.  

So we returned to Fresno

On the plane, as we looked out the window anticipating our return to Fresno, we thought, "There is the light of sabbath rest beyond the horizon.  God only knows how much we need it."

I suppose that unless you are looking for rest you'll never find it. 

We are looking....

and finding it.

In every sunset

 ....and every sunrise...

...finding the rest our souls thirst for.

"You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back.  Kindle and seize us.  Be our fire and our sweetness.  Let us love.  Let us run."

 - Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

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How are we doing?

We are feeling our souls rest.

The soul is the essence of who you are.  It's a type of essential identity that includes your unique call from God, your personality, your particular wiring, your body and your mind.

I guess, in a way, you are a soul.

We are resting. 

Every day all day....together.

Every day all day....simple and without complex demands on us.

Every day all day....devoted to receive from God what he wills for us.

Souls at rest.

These are good days

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