The baby is crying. The three-year old is throwing tantrums.  The husband is working. Dirty laundry freckles the bedroom floor.  The dishes stacked high in the sink resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

                This worn out, overwhelmed mama stands in the center of it all and feels like the room is spinning.  The demands of my everyday life whirl by me like the debris in an F5 tornado.  I’ve reached my breaking point; I’m well beyond my limit.  

                “I can do this, I can do this,” I coach myself, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Oh Lord, please strengthen me.” 

                As my focus shifts to the Lord I hear a gentle whisper, “Come away with me.  Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while.”  (See Matthew 6:31)  My tense shoulders relax as the gentle words of my love, Jesus, are sung into my heart like a lullaby.  Again, I shift my gaze, this time to the church’s women’s retreat coming up this weekend.  The room stops spinning, and suddenly the never ending to-do list seems a bit more manageable.  

                I am going to make it through this week.  I am going to make it through this week because the loving arms of my Sustainer are going to carry me through the piles of laundry and into the retreat, like a groom carries his adoring bride.  I amgoing to make it through this week, and at last I will go away with Jesus and rest a while. 

Thank you for these precious, personal words today.  Thank you, Lord, that you are a God who understands what it is like to need to retreat and rest.  I am looking forward to truly resting with you this weekend.  Please give me the strength to do what needs to be done this week, and the patience to let go of the things that don’t really “need” to be done.  Lord, I pray for all my sisters out there who are needing rest and replenishment.  I pray for your provision; that they would have the opportunity to break away from life and rest a while.  I pray for the ladies who will be joining me on this retreat this weekend.  May we all experience you and find rest in your presence.  I love you, my Lord.  Amen.