Rest

" Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. " Matthew 11:29

It is the end of a long day...my apologies for not posting sooner.  It is a day where I've been trying to keep up with some important events in our lives, like preparing a child for camp, participating in a parish festival, and getting Father's day celebrations together.

In the past, this would have been a normal day, and I'm not complaining now. It has been a mostly fun day, however, no matter how much I try to pretend I can do things like I used to, I can't.  Perhaps some of you experience this too when you have events that you want to be part of, and choose to be part of because they are important to you and other people in your life.

A more challenging thing takes place when I feel I 'should' participate in things...that I should keep up my end of the deal and participate. While I'm getting better at saying no, I still find it much too easy to overdo. When you are used to keeping a specific schedule, it can be hard (even after some considerable time) to always put huge limits on our self.  I find that I'm not as gentle and humble of heart as Jesus, and my own yoke upon my shoulder is not easy...

So, what to do when this happens?  Forgive ourselves, and get the rest we need as soon as possible. Pray that Jesus would help us to be easy on ourselves, and teach us to find rest for our souls...and our bodies.

Dear Lord, you are more gentle and understanding to us than we often are to ourselves. Teach us your ways, so we may yoke with you and find rest for our weary bodies and souls.  Amen.