Restless to Resting

Rest? Ha! Me? Never!  I am a busy person.  I like to be on the go.  

Just ask my parents.  I came out kicking and I  have not stopped since.  My dad says I was kicking and wiggling so much that he could barely keep the blanket over me when I was born.  To which the doctor said, "She is a keeper!" (side note: I would completely agree!)

Dad holding me

I stopped napping before I was 2 years old.  Yes moms your read that right!  I didn't want to miss a beat.  I wanted to be where all the action was.  I wanted to be going and doing.

1st Dance Recital!

My parents were constantly reeling me back to reality during my teen years.  I would sign up for every extra curricular activity I could.  I wanted to be on the go.  Never sitting.  Never resting.  There were places to go, people to see, and I was going to do it all.

Graduating from College!

I kept this up through my twenties.  Graduating from college at 21 and getting married just 20 days later.  

Wedding Day!

My husband started medical school and I started working.  The last year of his medical school I enrolled in graduate school and got pregnant with our first son.  We moved across several states just 10 weeks after he was born.

Working on a paper for graduate school with a 2 week old baby

The hubs started residency and I continued graduate school that fall.  Oh did I mention we were pregnant with our second son.  Our two oldest boys are 13 months to the day apart.  

My two oldest boys B - 13 months, L - 1 week

So there we were, two babies, the hubs in his second year of residency and I was trying to finish graduate school.

Never stopping.  Never ceasing.

Rest was not even in our vocabulary.  Even if I wanted to rest, how could I?  There are so many things that need to get done.  Babies to play with, a house that needed to be cleaned, laundry that needed to be done, dinner to cook, a report to finish for school...The list was endless.

By the grace of God, we did it!

I completed graduate school and began working.  

Mike completed his residency and applied for a fellowship.  

But by the end of it all we were a mess.

Life was crazy

Our marriage was weak and our relationship with God stagnant.  We were not living... we were surviving.  We were barely holding on.

But God grabbed a hold of us.  He showed us that true rest only comes from HIM.  That is it not about going and doing... It is about being with God.  It is about resting in Him.  When we are with Him our hearts can truly rest.

I am not saying that any of the things I listed above are bad.  In fact, they are all, in and of themselves good things.  It is when these things keep us from God that they become a problem.

Hubs graduating from residency program!

I let my busyness get between me and God, and before long... I did not even need God.  I had my own agenda and I did not have time to stop for anything or anyone.

A few years ago... The Lord grabbed a hold of me.  It took a pretty difficult thing in my life to shake me enough to make me slow down.  Even then... It did not happen immediately.  He has been shaping me over the past 3 years... slowly showing me how to slow down.  He has been so gracious to me to do it slowly and not just rip the band aide off.

Learning to slow down and enjoy life with our maker!

What have I learned?  That there is nothing better than slowing down to spend time with Jesus.  To stop and just be in HIS presence.

Slowing down for me means... 

quieting my heart before my maker,

listening to him speak, 

spending time with my kids just talking about randomness, 

intently listening to my husband share his life goals and dreams, 
spending time with friends,

building community,

getting to know the hearts of the people around me,

and serving other people.

Our Family!

I would like to say that my life has gotten less busy.  I am not sure that is actually the case.  We are getting ready to move again and start a new chapter in our lives.  This year we will have increased our family size from 4 to 6,

packed up our house and moved across state lines, and the hubs is starting a new job.  But somehow, through it all... Jesus is teaching me to slow down.  

To rest in Him.

I would love to hear how Jesus is teaching you to rest in HIM.

Please share!

Daughter to the King

Nicole Marie