Help your family embrace rest as a good thing.
Ask This: When was a time when you got real dirty? How good did it feel to get cleaned up?
Watch This:
Say This: In this scene from the Toy Story 2, we see a toy expert repair Woody and make him as good as new. Just like Woody, our renewal can only occur in the presence of the Master, and we can only be in His presence when we are still before Him. This is why rest is so important.
Say This: Each year as the days grow longer and the temperature begins to rise, kids (and parents) begin to count down the days until summer break. Families hang on for dear life as their calendars are packed with spring sports, standardized testing, and year-end concerts and banquets.
Ask This: What is your favorite memory from this school year?
Say This: Summer is an exciting time because it is an opportunity for families to slow down, rest, and be renewed after a long and stressful school year. Unfortunately, most families simply replace the busyness of the school year with a summer that is jam-packed with vacations, home projects, and church and sport camps. Rest is vital for both personal and family health, and yet very few of us make it a priority. Physician and author Richard Swenson describes our struggle to rest this way: “We have leisure but little rest. The pace, the noise, the expectations, and the interruptions of modern life have not soothed the soul nor brought refreshment to the burdened spirit.”
Jesus understood the importance of rest and renewal, and made it a priority throughout his life and ministry (Read Luke 5:15-16). He also offered a wonderful promise to anyone who might come to Him seeking rest (Read Matthew 11:28-30). The truth is, we aren’t weary simply because our schedules are full. We are weary because our spirits are depleted. Within each one of us resides a soul that desperately needs renewal and restoration, something an overloaded schedule doesn’t always allow. This summer, let’s make a commitment not just to play and have fun, but to also seek rest and renewal for ourselves and our family.
Ask This:
What is something that each of you hope we can do as a family this summer?
How good of a job does our family do at resting? What are some reasons for this?
What are some ways our family can schedule some “quiet” and “rest” into our weekly schedule?
What is an area within our family that we need to ask God to renew while we slow down this summer?
Pray This: Dear Lord, thank you for this day and for all the ways you have blessed our family. We are grateful for your example concerning rest, and ask that you help our us learn to be still before You. Give us the rest that only You can give. Renew and restore our hearts when they are weary, and fill them to overflowing. Help us to love one another the way that you loved us. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.