rest > work

after a week at the beach, i'm back to work and life and hustle. as is our annual tradition, we spent the week at our favorite beach house with all of my family. most days, there were 12 of us in the house -- on the best days, we were a group of 18. we're big and loud and active and really into being together. we laughed, cooked, explored, swam, shopped and rested. all good, necessary things. 

going into this vacation, i felt very tired. a cumulation of a BUSY year of moving and starting a new job had left me desperate for time to rest and recover. as i headed out of the city i took with me a determination to set new, sustainable, slower rhythms of life and work, and this quote from Abide: 

work from rest, rather than rest from work

for too long, work has been my center, controlling steer. as work goes, so life goes. and, vacation and real rest have come as a result of too much work. but this is different. rest, abiding, as a way of life. 

because, really, my identity can not be as producer. i can't live like i'm being judged, or receiving value based on what i create, execute, implement or lead. my value is rooted in God's love, his chosenness of me. and, rest reminds me of these things. that, really, when i do nothing, i'm loved.

today, back to work, i'm carrying this mantra--work from rest--as if it's my most prized souvenir.