Carving Time for Rest

What joy it is to have your baby in your arms! Naptime in your arms is so sweet. These are moments you always cherish that continue throughout their toddler and early school age years. Just yesterday I looked at a photograph with my second son, David, while he was sleeping in my arms. He was weeks old. Cuddled in my arms on my left side, David was on his right side with his right hand under his right ear sleeping soundly.

Naptime reminds me that life is so precious, vulnerable, and fragile. I see it in the eyes of my children when they fall and hurt themselves; when they have a nightmare; when they go to school for the first time and begin to cry; when they fear I or Adam will not come back to pick them up; when they say “I love you” and “You’re the best, Mom;” when they are preoccupied with insignificant things like dead bees; when they want to snuggle with me and then moments later they’re “too old” for that; when they hold my hand to walk across the street; when they don’t want a kiss in front of their friends and on other days, they want a kiss and a hug.

The joys of motherhood are endless. I am blessed to have experienced the birth of my two children and the lives that God has entrusted me with and to be responsible for. When I think of naptime, I think of temporary rest in the day and I also think of the rarity of it, as we get older. Just like our children grow out of naptime as they enter elementary school, we too grow out of temporary rest in the day.

I think I’m going to make a conscious choice to remind the boys and myself that naptime doesn’t have to end. We can modify it by finding time to enjoy rest, peace and calmness in ourselves, at any moment, by stopping whatever we are doing in our day to just breathe and connect with ourselves and the grace within us.

Connecting with oneself reminds me of teaching children how to regulate their feelings. I think it’s a healthy way of teaching my boys to connect with themselves, a positive timeout. I think I’m also helping them become better men for themselves and their future wives.

Grace, it’s time for my siesta!

Guiding Lesson: Eve, just hearing you reminisce about that joys of motherhood, makes me pause and be present to you.  I seem to be feeling so relaxed, at ease and flowing freely within you as you remember these precious times.  Your breath seems as sweeter.  Your heart beats with joy.  Your voice echoes tenderness.  What a difference that a pause can make.  Your time of reflection and treasuring these memories has a healthy impact on your body. I am thoroughly enjoying this.

So what can you do to continue to practice “positive timeouts” today?  It is so important to make this part of each day and sometimes throughout the day. It will renew, refresh and mostly allow me to flow freely and guide you through your life.  I know how busy you are.  But are you really too busy to allow Grace in?  Why don’t you take a “positive timeout” to figure this out.  You may be pleasantly surprised to stumble upon some pearls of wisdom…curious?  Just breathe.