“What if there is just not enough? Not enough money or time or energy or help or strength to meet the pressing need. We are barely hanging on, barely holding it together. Rest?! There is no time for rest. You can't imagine adding one more thing to the seven plates you're already spinning. But here is the truth. You are in this—this chronic unfixable condition called life—and yet at the same time, you are precious beyond rubies. You are worth protecting and preserving. You are meant to be intact. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full' (John 10:10). Stop and notice. Are you worn out? What do you need? Ask God to show us what leaches the life from our bones. Let us ask God to show us whether there is anything we can set down. Remember, not everything has to be done. And not everything has to be done by you. May you find a small place for rest that is life-giving and fits what is available to you today.” – Kate Bowler & Jessica Richie, Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection You are worth protecting and preserving. You are meant to be intact. Our tendency is instead to try to keep up, keep all our plates spinning, to do our best not to let anything fall. But what if the weariness we are feeling is an invitation to pay attention—to what is life-giving…and what is not? What comes to mind as you consider with God what is leaching the life from your bones? Whether there is anything you can set down? Let’s lean into what John O’Donohue says in one line of his blessing, “For One Who Is Exhausted”: “Be excessively gentle with yourself.” What would be the excessively gentle thing for you, today? Might that be exactly what God has been offering you in the midst of it all? What is it like to take God up on it?

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2022-09-30 14:38:44 UTC