Rooted in Faith so Self-Care Becomes the Norm
Self-Care. A 2018 buzz word. We all know taking care of ourselves is important; a necessity. No one can work from a depleted spirit. We are all searching.
Searching for rest.
A break from the busy.
A break from the news.
A moment to relax and breath.
My husband typically works from home. When he does, we often meet up in the kitchen throughout the day and chat. I usually start the conversation by asking him how his day is going. One of his more frequent responses is, “If I can get through this week, things will settle down.”
Have you ever said that?
Just get me through this season and life will settle down.
But, it never does. Things are always busy.
We know that taking care of ourselves is necessary. We know that we are no good to others if we try to serve them from an exhausted soul. It’s time to take self-care from an activity we put on our calendar once a month to do to something that is weaved in and through our daily lives.
“So, then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, overflowing in thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7
Colossians 2:6 starts by talking about how we received Christ. If you are a Christian, you have received Christ. When you receive him, you have full access to his power. Every one of us received this power the moment we said yes to Jesus. No one has more Jesus than the next girl (even though it may seem that way). Jesus is in you. All you have to do is access him to receive his power. This leads to his strength which gets you through those busy times. That power that you have full access to, leads to rest in the chaos. He is your root; your footing.
In order to make self-care the undertone of our life, we must learn to live in him. Colossians 2 talks about this. This means we pray ALL THE TIME. We talk to Jesus in the car, in the shower, while making dinner, when your kid tells you about their latest Fornite victory. Talk to Jesus. He is your friend. Just like you would pick up the phone and text a friend, talk to Jesus.
If we are going to find rest, we also need to make time to be in our Bibles. I know, life is busy and reading the Bible is complicated. I am here to tell you that it doesn’t matter what this looks like. Just be in the Word. I remember when my boys were babies and I didn’t have a spare moment. I did, however, have one of those flip calendars on my kitchen counter with Bible verses on it. That is how I got my daily fill in that hectic season. There is no assignment for how much or what you need to read. There is no due date. Just read.
Read to connect with him.
Read to rejuvenate your soul.
Read so that life is breathed into your lungs.
Read so you are rested.
Colossians also tells us that we are strengthened in our faith, through our faith, and by our faith. Our faith is what strengthens and sustains us. Our rest when life gets rough. Not too long ago, my dad had a stroke. A couple days later, my husband traveled for a week for work. Life felt heavy and hard. But, I am here to tell you that my faith was my strength during that time. I remember getting to Friday when my husband got home. I threw on my jammies and laid on my bed around 6pm. Daddy was home and there was someone else my kids could call on. I remember laying there thinking, “I made it through. I made it through a traumatic experience and survived a week of single parenting (Props to all you single parents. You are heroes!). Not only did I make it through, but I wasn’t depleted. I actually felt rested. Rested because I leaned into my faith to see me through.
The last thing Colossians tells us is to be overflowing with thankfulness. A while back, a friend challenged me to keep a gratitude journal. If I am being honest, I wasn’t too keen on this idea. For one, I am not a good journaler. I know I should be seeing that I am a Christian and apparently that’s what Christians do but I’m not. I also saw it as one more thing to add to my to-do. What I noticed after this conversation, however, is that I started to mentally take a tally of the things I was grateful for. And you know what? It shifted my perspective. No longer did the negative chatter take precedence in my thoughts. Instead, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness which shifted my perspective to him ushering in rest. Gratitude changes our perspective which leads to rest. Gratitude helps us to see those God nudges that happen when life seems hard and chaotic. Gratitude focuses our attention away from the hard and back onto the Savior. When our focus is on the Savior, our rest rushes in and we are practicing self-care.
We know there is chaos in every season. It’s inevitable. In order to be rested and prepared for the crazy, we must be rooted in our faith. We must have these strong roots in our faith so that self-care and rest become the norm. It becomes a part of our daily lives. Being rooted in our faith energizes us for those moments when life overwhelms us. When we are rooted we can rest because our rest is found in him.
When we are rooted in our faith…
We don’t question who we are because we know Whose we are.
We don’t struggle to believe because He is real regardless of our circumstances.
We find rest in the chaos because He is our steady.
What is grounding you?
What sustains you in the busy?
Where do you find rest?
Love & Blessings,
Meg