By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Genesis 2:2
Wait! If you don’t believe in God, don’t run off. This is about resting, not about faith. If God rested (which we all know He didn’t really need to do, except as an example), surely we mere humans can use a rest as well. But do we get one?
Sunday used to be considered a day of rest, not sleeping kind of rest, although that could apply, too, but a rest from everyday work. Whether or not people attended church, they spent time with family or did something they enjoyed that they didn’t have time for during the week. That habit is a healthy one, but often ignored in today’s busy world.
Before church, a friend mentioned that on Saturday, she accidentally left her phone muted and didn’t discover it until Sunday morning. She added gleefully that although there were lots of messages and texts, she hadn’t even missed it. She got a much-needed break and perhaps she’ll try to do this on purpose sometimes.
My husband, one of the hardest working people I know, rarely takes a rest. The nature of his job is that he’s on-call literally day and night, almost every day of the week. I’m always glad when he goes for a long bike ride (even though his phone goes with him) or plays a game on the PlayStation because that’s resting for him. And it’s another reason why going on vacation somewhere that’s out of cell phone range is absolutely wonderful!
Resting means time to be away from the everyday: to relax, rejuvenate, refresh, to do something you love, read a book, watch some March madness, a hockey game or a favorite movie…and not feel guilty about it. Today, part of my “resting” was to make gluten-free focaccia for tonight’s “happy hour” get-together of friends. I also read for awhile after church and tried to catch up a bit on the computer.
We all need rest–both physical and mental. I encourage you to made sure this week to take time to rest; even schedule it if that’s what it takes. Try to set aside at least several hours, although half a day or a day would be even better. Unless you’re a very special person, the world can go on just fine without you for that amount of time, but your family, your friends and your inner self are clamoring for some quality time and attention. Give it to them!
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For anyone interesting in the food side of this post, I’ve posted the gluten-free focaccia recipe (with permission) here: https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/fabulous-focaccia-gluten-free-too/.
A stand mixer works best for this recipe.
The dough stage, ready for rising.
Toppings
Ready for the oven. When done, they look much like this only golden brown.
This, that and the other thing 
Wonder if one could still find the word “siesta” in English dictionary. 🙂
In the dictionary but not in action. 🙂
janet
do power naps count? LOL when I partook of the rat race that was about all I allowed myself until one day my old heart said thats it time to rest and guess it’s up to me to make you do so…did it ever haven’t ‘worked’ in my field since that day ! Had I not thought I was so important thet the store couldn’t operate without me that would not have had to happen. so listen to Jan she is a wise woman!!
Power naps would be good but a longer period of regular down time would be even better.
janet
Good morning.
What is gluten free? No flour? Your dough looks like flour. What is it made of?
We made home-made pizza last night but using a supermarket dough which we rolled out. It was great. We talked about making our own dough next time; and looking up a recipe on-line as we hadn’t tried making one before. I tried bread 40 years ago but it really wasn’t “my thing” back then.
Randy
Good morning, Randy. Gluten-free means any food that doesn’t have gluten, a part of protein found mostly in wheat but in some other grains, too. Lots of people are gluten-intolerant or have celiac disease, where they get very sick if they have even a tiny bit of gluten. So the dough is made with a mix of a variety of flours of things like cornstarch that don’t contain gluten.
I have a bread machine which, although I don’t use it much now with just me, is wonderful for breads of all sorts. Waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread is amazing and you could make pizza dough in it, too.
Have a great Monday,
janet
Your post reminds me of the Sabbath Manifesto. Have you heard of it? http://www.sabbathmanifesto.org/
I often feel that the days I spend outdoors or with my kids (not on a phone or computer) are the days I feel most alive. 🙂
I haven’t heard of it but will take a look when I have time today. The time outdoors and with children can be some of the best time ever. Can’t wait until spring weather so that even if I’m working inside, I can have windows open to reap the benefits of the outdoor smells!!
Enjoy your day,
janet
I will follow the advice of Genesis 2:2. The focaccia looks good – thanks for the inspiration :o)
It is good. If you’re not gluten-intolerant, you can make regular focaccia, but one woman in our group is, so I do this one. Easy and good!
I do so agree. Since my sleeping does not come easy since the stroke, I understand the need for rest. I have set up a pattern of sleep from 1-8 (waking up every 2 hours), then up for breakfast and emails and blog checking. Then, about 10-10:30, I, often head back to bed for 2-3 hours more. Sometimes, that 2-3 hours is the best sleep I get at all. It’s not enough and my body crashes about every 2-3 weeks and I will sleep for about 5 hours straight. Rest while you can and feel good when you wake up.
Scott