sundays are rest days and 40 acts observes this, too. there is no email and no challenge today, but a chance to process things that have happened and sit back and enjoy the day we are living.'
i want to take this first sunday of lent to talk about the importance of rest.
i'm not a particularly old person (or i convince myself i'm not, at least, although i am one of them final babies born last century) but my body needs rest and i know it. recently i was very unwell - literally had all symptoms under the sun, all at once, from runny nose and sore throat to dizziness and headaches. it was not great and just made me miss home that much more.
but rest is important. we don't need to always be occupying every second of our day just to feel productive and as if we've made the most out of our day. we can easily appreciate the day we have by observing other things, whether this be the daffodils that are springing up in places or the concentration on the barista's face as they try to spell out your unfamiliar name on your coffee cup.
revitalising your body and letting it do it's thing is important. the extreme is when you fall ill from exhaustion which results in the opposite, where you waste your day away as you use 'i need to nap' as an excuse for everything.
even the most powerful thing on earth observed a day of rest. he most certainly did not need it, yet he chose to take a day off, showing that rest is not just for the weak.
just as we would not know bad if we do not know good, we won't know what hard work is unless we have rest. so treat yourself, look after yourself and give your mind and body what it needs.
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as a rest day, technically on sundays you do not need to observe lent. however, this would mean that lent in fact lasts not only for 40 days, but 47 days. like i've mentioned in a previous post, there is no one who is going to punish you if you break your lent, by the only person you're cheating is yourself.
before sunday, i had little faith that i would be able to stay away from snacking even on sundays but when sunday came, i had no motivation for wanting to break it. and so i continue with my clean streak.
i was also back in my home city that is london (the best city) and saw many of my friends at church today. there was no challenge from 40 acts but i was still determined to find a way to be generous. since i didn't really do much for yesterday's challenge, i tried to take it up again and offered to buy people food. people were surprised - is that a bad thing, saying that i'm usually stingy? but despite my nice offer, to my surprise, no one took me up on it. i guess being kind doesn't always mean being taken advantage of, but it's where your heart lie that matters the most.
without going into much detail, the rest of my day just went a bit downhill. i came back to birmingham (a city which i love, actually, so it's not a case of south uk syndrome) and went to the evening service at my church and just got depressed. but my church family there are literally the reason i love going to church, even on my bad days. from those i'm not as close with taking the time to make eye contact with me and smile at me, to those i'm closer with choosing to journey through life with me and lift me up in prayer. the advice i get is so pure and all said out of love and some of my best conversational exchanges are made at church, because church isn't just a building but the community who make it up.
my prayer is that you reading this will find that loving, trustworthy, transparent group of friends to support you.
take care,
haynam x
i want to take this first sunday of lent to talk about the importance of rest.
i'm not a particularly old person (or i convince myself i'm not, at least, although i am one of them final babies born last century) but my body needs rest and i know it. recently i was very unwell - literally had all symptoms under the sun, all at once, from runny nose and sore throat to dizziness and headaches. it was not great and just made me miss home that much more.
but rest is important. we don't need to always be occupying every second of our day just to feel productive and as if we've made the most out of our day. we can easily appreciate the day we have by observing other things, whether this be the daffodils that are springing up in places or the concentration on the barista's face as they try to spell out your unfamiliar name on your coffee cup.
revitalising your body and letting it do it's thing is important. the extreme is when you fall ill from exhaustion which results in the opposite, where you waste your day away as you use 'i need to nap' as an excuse for everything.
even the most powerful thing on earth observed a day of rest. he most certainly did not need it, yet he chose to take a day off, showing that rest is not just for the weak.
just as we would not know bad if we do not know good, we won't know what hard work is unless we have rest. so treat yourself, look after yourself and give your mind and body what it needs.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
as a rest day, technically on sundays you do not need to observe lent. however, this would mean that lent in fact lasts not only for 40 days, but 47 days. like i've mentioned in a previous post, there is no one who is going to punish you if you break your lent, by the only person you're cheating is yourself.
before sunday, i had little faith that i would be able to stay away from snacking even on sundays but when sunday came, i had no motivation for wanting to break it. and so i continue with my clean streak.
i was also back in my home city that is london (the best city) and saw many of my friends at church today. there was no challenge from 40 acts but i was still determined to find a way to be generous. since i didn't really do much for yesterday's challenge, i tried to take it up again and offered to buy people food. people were surprised - is that a bad thing, saying that i'm usually stingy? but despite my nice offer, to my surprise, no one took me up on it. i guess being kind doesn't always mean being taken advantage of, but it's where your heart lie that matters the most.
without going into much detail, the rest of my day just went a bit downhill. i came back to birmingham (a city which i love, actually, so it's not a case of south uk syndrome) and went to the evening service at my church and just got depressed. but my church family there are literally the reason i love going to church, even on my bad days. from those i'm not as close with taking the time to make eye contact with me and smile at me, to those i'm closer with choosing to journey through life with me and lift me up in prayer. the advice i get is so pure and all said out of love and some of my best conversational exchanges are made at church, because church isn't just a building but the community who make it up.
my prayer is that you reading this will find that loving, trustworthy, transparent group of friends to support you.
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| this is my lock screen - a beautiful reminder of a beautiful truth |
haynam x