Rest

…He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul…

I am really enjoying living in the countryside at the moment, amidst the green pastures and quiet waters, just like in this well-known Psalm. It is lovely to listen to the sound of the wind in the trees and the birds singing, even woodpeckers drumming on nearby tree trunks. I like the sights as well as the sounds of the countryside too, such as patches of sunshine, a squirrel skipping along the branches outside, the colourful flowers in the garden, the friendly robin and a shiny slow worm. I am really thankful for this time and the chance to rest. Rest as well as good food and company can be as restorative as medicine sometimes!

I have been struck recently though about how rest doesn’t just happen, especially in the society we live in. Often we have to consciously slow our thoughts and breathing down and other times it takes someone else to make us rest, as if we need permission. There is something almost forceful about the way the start of this verse is phrased in the NIV ‘He makes me lie down in green pastures…’. But of course, this is for our own benefit and this is the way that our souls are restored. It doesn’t always come easily though.

I have been surprised since being ill and needing to rest a lot how hard I have found it. I find I can’t lie in the same position for very long or keep my eyes closed unless I’m really exhausted – I fidget! It is a real discipline to rest but one we definitely need to master.

Being ill has forced me to work on this skill generally. I have had to slow myself down, take each day as it comes and not put pressure on myself to always be doing things. When you do this you recognise the background ‘noise’ (of worries, doubt, frustration etc) that is in your head all the time but that you don’t notice because you’re busy. Turning this ‘noise’ off and focussing your mind is another skill. I certainly think this time is/will be useful for a number of reasons!

As well as resting (I struggle not to say ‘just’ resting as if it’s not very important!) we are using this time to catch up with family after our time away from home, correspondence, preparing presentations for the next few months and doing work from Mbeya. This is all part of our role with Wycliffe. We are also trying to include exercise in our routine to avoid the side effects of lots of sitting down! We hope this gives you a good picture of our lives in beautiful Devon at the moment.