God Wants You to Rest

Here’s your official permission slip

Photo by Khoi Tran on Unsplash

One day a few months ago, I had blocked out a two-hour chunk of time in which to write. My kids were at school and my husband was at work and the house was quiet and interruption-free. I sat at my writing desk with my notebook and favorite pen and waited for the words to flow.

Except they didn’t.

I gave it five minutes. Still nothing. I made a few false starts but crossed everything out. I waited ten minutes. All I could think about were some other matters that needed my attention. I felt trapped.

I looked around in desperation. Who can let me off the hook, here? Finally, I realized that *I* am the adult here, actually. I grabbed a post-it note and wrote myself a permission slip.

Photo taken by the author

Sometimes we forget we have agency. Agency is simply the power and the means to take action. It’s easy to react to the circumstances of our daily lives instead of respond with intention.

This is especially true in the fall, as schedules typically get busier and we feel the weight of all that we juggle. We can run ourselves ragged in caring for everyone else but ourselves. We…