self-care or selfish?
I slammed doors, stomped feet, and spewed all kind of venom. How dare the company ask us to move (even if only for a short time), and how dare my husband say yes. He could just go alone. Without me. Because here is where I was. The I who’d found my identity and importance in doing good. Never mind that I was weary and overwhelmed and not so much doing good for my husband. The tantrum didn’t last too long, and I resigned from all my responsibilities (and later discovered life in that place did not collapse without me.) We moved into a smaller house that I now had time to clean and keep neat. I baked bread again, cooked healthy foods, and we walked every morning before my husband went to work and after he came home. Those long days gave me time...
I will give you rest
It rests between the large jars of cinnamon and parsley, peeks at me from behind the glass restaurant-style sugar dispenser. Sissy gave it to me, this duckie tea infuser. I take it out, hold it in my palm, stroke it. I squeeze my eyes tight and think back to that day in the dollar store where I snagged a trio of rubber ducks for my mom to add a little fun to her hospice hot tub bubble baths. She joked about them needing diapers. Rubber duckie, you’re so fine… The months stretch like rubber, and my memory grows thin, but my mind reaches for that day. The day she roused after days of sleeping and not eating. And we got her up in the recliner and pushed her by the window to watch the birds. We brought her breakfast–I can’t remember...
still saturday: strength
“Quiet down, far-flung ocean islands. Listen! Sit down and rest, everyone. Recover your strength. Gather around me. Say what’s on your heart. Together let’s decide what’s right.” Isaiah 41:1 (Message) “In silence and quietness the devout soul makes progress and learns the hidden mysteries of the Scriptures.” ~Thomas a Kempis Welcome to Still Saturday where we pause after a busy week, move in quiet pilgrimage, maybe linger a while in some still place, and soak in the beauty of images and words. We’d love for you to join us. Get the details on the left, grab your favorite button, and link up below. We all love to hear if something especially speaks to your heart, but please don’t feel pressured to comment....
still saturday: serenity
Serenity O sabbath rest of Galilee! O calm of hills above, where Jesus knelt to share with thee the silence of eternity interpreted by love. Drop thy still dews of quietness till all our strivings cease, take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace. Text: John G. Whittier (from “The Brewing of Soma,” 1872 Music: Charles E. Ives, ca. 1909 Stilled, Sandy Welcome to Still Saturday where we pause after a busy week, move in quiet pilgrimage, maybe linger a while in some still place, and soak in the beauty of images and words. We’d love for you to join us. Get the details on the left, grab your favorite button, and link up below. We all love to hear if something especially speaks to...
Still Saturday: More by Less
“Even beasts of burden must be turned out to grass occasionally; the very sea pauses at ebb and flood; earth keeps the Sabbath of the wintry months; and man, even when exalted to God’s ambassador, must rest or faint, must trim his lamp or let it burn low; must recruit his vogor or grow prematurely old. . . . In the long run we shall do more by sometimes doing less.” ~Charles Spurgeon as quoted in Traveling Light by Max Lucado “In a world rocky with human failure. there is a land lush with divine mercy. Your Shepherd invites you there. He wants you to lie down. Nestle deeply until you are hidden, buried, in the tall shoots of his love, and there you will find rest.” ~Max Lucado in Traveling Light Welcome to Still Saturday...
Still Saturday: Taking Time
“We simply haven’t taken time. We’ve not been still long enough, often enough, to know ourselves, our friends, our family. Our God. Indeed, the worst hallucination busyness conjures is the conviction that I am God. All depends on me. How will the right things happen at the right time if I’m not pushing and pulling and watching and worrying?” ~Mark Buchanan in The Rest of God Welcome to Still Saturday where we pause after a busy week, move in quiet pilgrimage, maybe linger a while in some still place, and soak in the beauty of images and words. We’d love for you to join us. Get the details above, grab your favorite button, and link up below. We all love to hear if something especially speaks to your heart, but please...
Still Saturday: For When We Can’t Afford to Stop (Day 27)
“I’d venture that most of your precious memories occurred in spontaneous moments when you were paying attention to the present. We’re created for more than work. Our value is so much more than what we do. “In short, we’re designed to require rest and to crave beauty. Even our Creator rested and observed a Sabbath. None of us would presume to be more productive than God, yet we often act as if we can’t afford to stop, to pause, to still ourselves and rest at a soul level. If we’re going to manage our time in such a way that maximizes it, then we must be willing to live by an eternal clock, listening to God in our lives as well as listening to our bodies and hearts . . . Make the most of your time by spending it on a...
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