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One day of rest can actually improve your productivity.
As a mom of 8 children born in 10 calendar years, who homeschools and directs all operations for Cedar Creek Ministries, I get tired!!
Missionaries working on cultural appropriation are exhausted.
Pastors working to change the culture of a church from grace centered to repentant, but thankful for grace are drained.
Ministry leaders across the country are working diligently to accomplish the tasks set before them and are fatigued from over exertion.
Introverted pastor’s wives are bone-tired from putting on their game face at every church function. They love you, but they grow weary after extended amounts of peopling.
No matter the season we are in, we get worn out, over extended or restless from time to time.
We were designed for weekly rest. We see it from God in His design for all of creation.
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3
God likely showed us the example for rest for our own benefit. I have a difficult time believing in all his power and perfection, He needed the rest Himself.
As it turns out, this is all with great purpose. There is scientific backing for regular and scheduled rest being a benefit to both our mental and physical health.
Rest can be active, like taking a walk or it can be more sedentary like sitting for 10 minutes of quiet and meditating on scripture. The key is taking the time to sit and turn off your brain for stressors and physical work. Physical, mental and emotional rest are all beneficial to productivity, burnout prevention and stress management.
How to prep for weekly day of rest:
- Pick a day with no obligations. We do Sundays generally, so still go to church, but try to keep it at that.
- Make sure you prep food the day before. This is especially important for moms who make 2-3 meals a day every day. InstantPot meals or casseroles you can prep for breakfast and dinner.
- Clean the house the night before. Many people can literally not, rest if the house is mess. They will clean. Do it the night before.
- Make sure all the laundry is put away the night before. Nobody wants to see piles of clean or dirty laundry on a day of rest.
- Plan to have good books, games and non-screen related activities for your family for the day.
Benefits of a day of rest:
- Prevents burnout.
- Reduces risk of anxiety.
- Benefits your physical and mental health.
- Obeying scripture’s example of rest.
Email: Do you take a day of rest each week?
As we dive more and more into ministry learning about the benefits of rest, especially for those who work diligently most of the time has really opened our eyes to how Christian culture perceives rest.
Don’t we tend to make people feel guilty for resting?
O.K. maybe not make people feel guilty, but feel guilty ourselves for wanting or needing rest when there is so much to do all the time. I mean even the Lord told us in his word that the work is plenty and the laborers are few, right?
Who has time to rest.
In our blog post this week, we discussed the benefits of weekly rest and how to prep for an actual rest day, but it made me wonder…
How many of our lovely supporters…those of you who are supporting personal rest, restoring family relationships and reviving ministry vision are actually observing a day of rest yourselves?
Thank you so much for sharing your time with us. Cedar Creek Ministries is funded by Christians and churches who believe in the call to offer our leaders the double portion! If you feel the desire to make sure all those men and women called to serve God in missions and ministry have everything they need to personally rest, restore family relationships and revive ministry vision, consider joining us in regular prayer and financial support!!
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for weekly encouragement!
This post was written by Nickole Perry, co-founder and Director of Operations at Cedar Creek Ministries.
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