Accept Rest

I keep hearing the word ‘rest’ this summer.

Usually on a hobby farm, summer is the busiest time of the year, especially in Minnesota. We feel rushed because we only have a few months before the weather turns and we’re forced to stop laboring outside. We cram in all the repair work, the animal things, the landscaping and gardening, the projects to improve the place. And we never seem to have enough time.

This summer has been so different. We’ve been forced to rest by ridiculously heavy rainfall and flooding. At this point my garden is so full of weeds, it’s beginning to look once again like the pasture we took it from. And I don’t know that I can recover it. And, honestly, I’m not sure the Lord wants us to.

As we’ve been forced into rest, we’ve experienced some really sweet time together. We’ve had Andrew home for two weeks now. It still feels a little surreal, like he just took a vacation to get some things done.

Andrew and I have gone on ‘dates’, running to Menards, Walmart, Fleet Farm and Costco. We’re enjoying working together on projects all around the farm and accomplishing things. The kids have loved having Daddy around to play, swim, and do things with. It’s been a renewing of all our relationships and a true blessing from the Lord.

In the midst of the hard and unknown we always have two choices. We can sit in the yuck and stew on the what ifs and why nots and how comes. We can face our eyes to the storm, watch the swirling clouds and wind and rain. We can look only at the situation at hand and wish it were different.

Or, we can ask ourselves “what am I supposed to learn and what is God teaching me”. We can look up to our Creator and Savior, who can’t be dethroned by anyone or anything, and trust Him. We can search for the blessings in the midst of the hard.

Trust me, the blessings are always there. Always. God loves to lavish on us His blessings. And they are abundant, beautiful, and perfect. Sometimes the blessings aren’t even seen or understood for a while, but they are there and will be revealed to you.

Take heart, mamas! Whatever you are going through, God is with you. He loves you. He sees you. He knows exactly what you need. It just might look a little different than you had planned. But it’ll always be better than you had planned.

We have no idea what we’re supposed to do with our garden. We have no idea where Andrew will get a job. We have no handle on our future. That might sound scary, but it actually is so freeing. God removed the burdens and has given us rest. And so, we accept that rest and thank Him for it!