Boasting in my weakness
Rest is important for everyone. It reminds us to rely on God for strength.
Hello! I’m back from a brief break and I’m writing from a sunny window seat on the train to New Hampshire where I’ll be visiting my family for a few days.
I’ve been missing my family dearly. While my current job as a barista is less stressful, working an hourly job also has its downsides. One of those is not getting paid time off. So whenever I want to visit my family, my paycheck is significantly smaller than usual. The bus or train ride is about six hours, so I have to factor in two travel days on top of the days I actually spend with them.
Because of this, I worked extra hours the last two weeks to make up for some of the paycheck I’ll be losing while I’m in NH. I had to take a break from writing last week to give myself some time to rest when I wasn’t working.
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on previous years when I could have prioritized seeing my family, but I didn’t. Even though I had PTO and the money to buy train, bus, or plane tickets, I was often “too busy” for a trip to NH. The months would pass by and then I’d realize it had been a while since I saw them. My career was just “so important” that I didn’t make the effort even when I had the money and time.
Now, I don’t have as much money or time, but I desire to visit my family as often as possible. I thank God for my generous parents who paid for my train tickets this time so it would be a little easier on me financially.
Rest is for everyone
My week off from writing was a reminder that rest is so important. Let me be clearer — SO important! And it’s important for everyone.
The day I decided not to post here, I was in the middle of writing something that I thought I would publish that day. But I was rushing to finish it without some elements I knew would make it stronger. So I stopped myself, took a breath, and told myself it was okay to skip a week. While I am grateful to all of you for reading, I know that no one will be upset if you don’t see me in your inbox for a week. And while I do believe my writing is important, nothing is so important that we should be pushing ourselves beyond our capacity.
The same week I slowed down, my pastors announced that they would be taking a sabbatical and that instead of beginning it after Easter — one of the busiest times for most churches — they were starting it immediately. They reiterated how important it is to rest and that they wanted to set an example for our church that it is okay to step back to take care of yourself.
No matter who you are, what you do for work, or how many people rely on you, we all need rest. That said, I believe rest is what you make it. There is a way to rest well. And then there’s a way to say you’re “resting” while still doing pretty much everything the same. Here are a few things I do when I need rest, whether it’s for a few hours in a day or taking a whole week to slow down:
Nap — This is probably one of the most underrated adulthood hacks. We push ourselves to survive from sunrise to sunset consuming more and more caffeine, but we rarely consider that maybe our bodies are trying to tell us something. When I’m tired after a long shift at work, I give myself 30 to 60 minutes to nap. Or if it’s too late in the afternoon, I’ll try to go to bed earlier.
Limit social time — I’m an extrovert, so for the most part, socializing energizes me. But I also recognize that it still takes energy and effort to be present with people. Sometimes I get tired from just leaving my house, taking the train, and jaunting around the city to meet people. So on weeks when I’m feeling a little run down, I clear my calendar and recharge with some good old couch time.
Take a bath — Okay, this might actually be the most underrated adulthood hack. I don’t know many people who take baths regularly and are over the age of five. But we should all be taking baths more often! Just the fact that you’re slowing down the process of cleaning your body makes a bath the antithesis of a shower. It becomes my intimate time with God — my mind stops racing enough to listen for His voice. I like to light some candles, make a cup of tea, and play some ambient sounds like ocean waves or forest sounds. (Comment below if you want me to share the Spotify playlists.)
Just stop and feel — I am preaching to myself with this one! It’s only recently come to my attention that I am not the best at letting myself feel negative emotions. I either rush past them in favor of more pleasant feelings or tell myself that they’re not a big deal. So I’ve been practicing to embrace these feelings. One day I was so exhausted after work that I just laid down on my living room rug and cried until I fell asleep. I took a nice little floor nap (see tip #1) and woke up feeling a bit better, though a little sore in my neck. But the point wasn’t to make myself feel better right away. It was to just let the feelings run their course and to acknowledge what those feelings were.
Boast in your weakness
Our human capacity is limited. Feeling tired is a great reminder for us to rely on God. We are only aware of God’s strength when we allow ourselves to be weak and ask Him for help.
This week, God kept telling me to pray for myself and others to “boast in our weakness.” This is a beautiful invitation for us to put down our egos and let God step into His role as our Heavenly Father.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
– 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 (NIV)
Without weakness, we would be self-reliant, needing nothing from God. That would kind of render His role as Protector, Provider, and Savior obsolete. But He delights in being needed — much like my parents delight in the moments when I still need them.
As an adult, I can do most things on my own, but from time to time I call my parents for help or advice. When I go home, my parents enjoy cooking for me. My mom will ask me if I have any special requests for dinner and in the morning my dad will make pancakes just as he did when we were kids. They know that I can make food for myself, but they still like doing things for me, whether it’s making a meal or buying my train tickets.
God not only desires to give us strength, but He wants to be our strength. And unlike even the most loving and giving people in our lives, He has no limits. He is always available, willing, and ready to be everything we can’t be.
I leave you this week with one question to ponder: What area of your life could you boast in your weakness and ask God to help you?
Love this so much! So insightful and vulnerable at the same time.