Pause and Let Your Soul Catch Up

Last year our student ministry leadership team here on campus said Sabbath is a spiritual discipline they find the hardest to practice. In response I spent last summer reading and researching to find some ways to help us practice the spiritual discipline of Sabbath. 

“Pause and Let Your Soul Catch Up” was born from this time of reflection.  Over and over again I notice how things get out of hand when we become so busy, so overwhelmed that we stop pausing long enough to let our souls catch up. In my own personal life I find that I get grouchy when I do not take a time of Sabbath. When I do not pause and let my soul catch up I do some really “stupid” things (sorry grandchildren I know stupid is not a good word to use but nevertheless they are stupid things that some times hurt others).

Today I suggest we all pause and let our souls catch up so we stop doing the “stupid” things that so often hurt others. Stop and reflect on your actions. If you took time to really pause and let your soul speak what would it say?

p.s. I highly recommend reading “An Unhurried Life Following Jesus’ Rhythms of Work and Rest” by Alan Fadling. When Jesus was here on earth he did not run himself ragged but gave us an example of a rhythm of work and rest. Jesus often paused and prayed and let his soul catch up. Jesus is the example of the type of person I want to be. How about you? What example are you following?

You Can Do This Hard Thing

You can do this hard thing
You can do this hard thing
It's not easy I know
But I believe that it's so
You can do this hard thing

These lyrics  written by Carrie Newcomer kept repeating in my head this past week as I prepared to journey with my mother through this hard time. We all watched as her priced possessions accumulated over seventy years were sold at an auction. We also watched as the house that she had raised her three children, mourned the loss of her husband, our dad, been a part of three marriages of her children along with two divorces of her children, the birth of seven grandchildren, and thirteen great grandchildren was sold at the auction. This was a hard thing to do for all of us.

Mom has not lived in the house for over a year and a half because of her failing health. It was not practical to keep paying for all the upkeep to keep this house for storage of things when mom could use the money to pay for other important needs. But even though it was the practical thing to do it was not the easy thing to do.

The cleaning out process began about a year ago as I would take mom up to visit the house and we would look through her things trying to decide what to do with them. We were often distracted by the memories and stories as we discovered an old picture or item that reminded us of the past.  What a gift that God gave us to have this time and the strength he gave us to do this hard thing.

As much as I wanted to escape the pain, I knew that we would have to do this hard thing. God carried us through the pain. The next time you face trials of any kind know “You can do this hard thing” and do not try to escape the pain but let the pain transform you. God will be right there beside you, or if necessary, He will carry you.