Naps

Right before I sat down to write this, I woke up from a nap. As an adult, I rarely get the chance to just take a good nap. I miss the olden days of a lovely mat laid down next to me. Preceded by a snack or something, I’m sure. Dimmed lights for ambiance. A blanket I think you may or may not have brought from home. Basically, the perfect situation for midday resting.

I don’t know if I truly knew just how precious it was to have that time to recharge. As kids, we just keep running until our tanks are empty. We fight what we need because the thought of missing any amount of playtime just doesn’t seem right. All around the world right now there are parents fighting with toddlers who just won’t close their eyes for a moment or two. It was a bit of a mystery at first to consider why God placed this on my heart as soon as I woke up. How do naps correlate to some greater message?

In our day to day lives, we wake up and get to work. It could be an actual job, taking care of your home, or whatever you get out of the bed and purpose yourself to do that day. We get focused on our goals and set out to accomplish them. A lot of the motivational speakers I’ve seen yell “Team No Sleep.” This slogan comes from pushing yourself past your limits to succeed while others are wasting time. For a while, I agreed with this. I chastised myself for every second I wasted playing a game or doing something I enjoyed.  I lamented the thought of not being successful quickly. What I failed to realize is that there is a huge difference between being lazy and needing rest.

We need to rest our mind, body, and most importantly soul. It isn’t wrong to take some time for yourself to heal. Don’t get so caught up in getting where you think you should be that you never take time to see how you’re doing. Take that nap, go on vacation, fast, or whatever you need to restore yourself. God doesn’t want us at 50 percent. He will always want our best and help us to get there. So today I thank God for the discernment to know when to rest. It is vital for making it through this marathon called life. #wepreach #giverosesmonth