Hello LE Family I do hope that you have been enjoying life and that you are ready for summer! 😎
Summer 2022 seems like a lifetime ago, but as we approach summer 2023 I thought it would be nice to share with you how during last summer I realized the importance and value of rest, and significantly the importance of scheduling times of rest and STICKING to them!
This leads nicely into this month’s scriptures:
-The Key Scriptures-
-Rest and Restoration (R&R)-
I mean who doesn’t love a bit of R&R? I know I do!
In 2022  I have to say I experienced a whole new level of ‘Rest’ and ‘Restoration’ which really has changed the way I am going to be living my life moving forward!
My R&R Â truly was a gift!
My R&R was a time to take a break from
work, ministry, building and planning, a time for me to relax, breath and enjoy the peace that comes with resting.
As the scripture rightly says :Â
There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens’
(Ecclesiastics 3:1)
Putting everything down is not something that comes easy for me, it really is hard! It’s hard to stop being a source of support within the ministry, it’s hard to step down from serving, and it’s hard to stop building projects.
It’s just so hard to stop, as all these activities are things that I love and am called to do.
However, there is a time for rest because God gifted us with rest, and believe it or not even God rested so why don’t we?
‘When a farmer ploughs for planting, does he plough continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?’
(Isaiah 28:24)
If you read the full passage, the answer is no, of course not!
The farmer ploughs the field, prepares the soil and then plants the seed and waits for it to grow…….he then rests or switches focus elsewhere!
My seeds of work and ministry leading up to summer 2022 had been planted it was now time for me to switch the focus to me.
It was time for me to sow the seeds of rest, joy, love, peace and grace in MY OWN LIFE.
I had been so focused on helping others and building Life Essence Housing over the past 3 years that I had never taken a proper break. In fact, I had not felt able to even turn my phone off during these 3 years as I was always on call for emergencies!
Supporting vulnerable people can be extremely challenging, and hard work. I was exhausted both mentally and physically!
I heard God say to me:
‘Kelleigh, I want you to rest fully, I want you to enjoy life, to enjoy the garden that I have given to you. To enjoy the beauty of life and all the different smells, tastes and sights there are.’ Yes, we live for eternal life, but I also want you to enjoy my creation too!
So in the summer of 2022 that’s what I chose to do! I focused on my home, doing the things that I enjoy, hobbies and spending time with God, family and friends.
Gardening, redecorating, sleeping, outdoor cinema, exploring different places, eating different foods, Silent retreats, afternoon tea, dog walks, etc.
I did it all!
Saying ‘NO’ to the things and people that were not in line with my sabbatical, and putting boundaries in to protect my rest and restoration period was essential, challenging but essential!
Only by doing it this way was I able to give God the opportunity to replenish and restore me!
So that was my summer of 2022! Treating myself with the Love, Joy, Peace, Grace and Compassion that I deserved. 💜Â
-Praise & Worship-
Listen to this amazing song: Rest (Avery Doreen, Official Lyric Video)
-Reflection and Meditation-
As you sit and reflect on this blog, I am pretty sure you have had some thoughts about your own life and where you should have been resting but maybe didn’t.
You may be asking yourself:
What have you been so focused on doing, that you haven’t noticed that you need to stop and plant some seeds in your own life?
Where in your life will you sow seeds of love, joy, peace, and grace today?
What will these seeds look like in terms of things you enjoy?
What boundaries need to be put in to ensure your R&R is beneficial to you?
Well, the Good news is God is always available! You can communicate and invite him into your life, and situation and your rest at any given moment!
So why not start planning now!
It can be a summer rest, a winter rest, a weekly rest.. or maybe you just need a hobby?
Ask, Seek, Knock 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8
Below is a picture of my incomplete creative work that encapsulates the year and is based on two key scriptures; Joshua 3- Crossing the Jordan River the second being John 4-Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
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