A Year of Rest – Join me?

Welcome back!

Last week I wrote about how my soul has been longing for REST, and at the end I invited you to join me in this endeavor. I’m so glad that you came back so we could talk a little bit about what that might look like in the upcoming year.

I’ve been thinking and praying about this for the last couple of weeks and have had ideas percolating. I’ve really felt the Lord leading to work on one thing a month  – one area in which we can implement REST. So each month I or a guest writer will be talking about REST and what that means in our lives.

And, though this is an introductory post into this foray of REST, I’ve picked an area for this month – Media. Specifically social media and talk radio. I love knowing what’s going on in the world – hearing opinions and keeping up with events. I love reading the articles that people link to. But I’ve noticed that talk radio, especially, stresses me out because I’ve found that there isn’t much of a balance. The ‘gloom and doom’ isn’t ever balanced by HOPE. And if I’m leaving a program or discussion depressed and worried, it isn’t worth it. God says to trust in Him and these two mediums aren’t helping me in that task.

So, this month I’m turning off talk radio and limiting social media. That pains me to say, just so you know, but it must be done in this pursuit of rest.

Recently I was reading a blog post by Emily Freeman over at Chatting at the Sky and she mentioned an app that she installed that keeps track of her time online. It’s called Rescue Time. It tracks the time that you spend and shows you where you’re spending it. I’m excited to see where I’m spending my days. Hopefully this will help me be more disciplined in my time in social-media-land.

It’s fun to see what’s going on in other’s lives, but more often than not, it means that we’re not living our lives to the fullest.

I’ll be checking back in with you throughout the month to share what progress is being made in the area of the month. I hope you’ll join me in this journey.My heart is to encourage you in the many facets of REST as we explore some of the practical applications and abstract ideas behind the idea of REST.

Be sure to let me know what you’re doing in your pursuit of REST!