Self Talk Soul Talk, Week 9

Chapter 9 of Self Talk, Soul Talk, by Jennifer Rothschild is called, "Chill Out, Be at Rest, O My Soul."  This book study is part of "Yes to God Tuesday" sponsored by Lelia.  Check her blog, Write From the Heart for more posts.

I am having trouble gathering my thoughts about what this chapter was saying to me.  I think maybe it's that I need to find balance in my life.  I frequently struggle with how I spend my time. I have friends who want to get together more than I do.  In fact, my husband and I don't like to go out with friends often, partly because we leave our dog home all day, and don't want to leave her at night, too.  There is a concert at school tonight that I'd like to go to, but am too tired.  There are other things that I'd like to do, but don't find the time to do them, sometimes, it's because I want to be on the computer.

I have trouble keeping up with everything I need to do. The upstairs part of the house, where people are not allowed, is a mess much of the time. I need to let go of some of the stuff we have, because there is not room for it here.  I'll start cleaning, but get sidetracked.  I feel overwhelmed.  

 My favorite thing to do right now is blog.  That is a good thing, but I have stayed up too late, and not gotten enough sleep. After getting an hour less sleep a day than I really need, not drinking enough water during the day, and breathing things my lungs are sensitive to, I had a head ache much of the weekend.  It got worse early yesterday morning, so I ended up staying home from work.  I went back to bed and slept past my normal 6:00 to 8:50!  I drank lots of water, and went to bed on time.  I am still tired today, but the headache is gone.  

So, when I read this chapter today, I could identify when Jennifer said, "The time had finally arrived when my fatigue became more powerful than my fortitude."  In her case, she was taking on too many speaking and writing opportunities.  There was a time I was serving in several ways at my church, and spent quite a bit of time there, but I have pulled away from those responsibilities.  But now, I'm  just not taking the time to take care of myself.

One of the passages I marked said, "When we are physically and emotionally spent and worn, we become susceptible to the enemy's attack." Jennifer said we need to choose rest for our souls, to speak peace to them.  I thought it was awesome when she pointed out that when God rested after creating the world, there was no mention of a beginning or end of that day, like there was for the others. She said God is our rest.

There were a lot more points made, that I already do, to a point.  I think the answer for me is to make sure I spend time with God each day in the Word and prayer.  When I neglect these things, the cares and worries, and guilt sneak in.  I also need to balance the things I do so that I can get enough sleep.

This wasn't a very inspiring post, but I'm not feeling so inspiring right now.  I'm tired!