Which of the following are similar to the ways you've served Christ in your family? [check all that apply]
• Taught your kids to see God's glory in nature
• Washed the dishes without being asked
• Played a board game with your kids
• Encouraged your wife to finish her master's degree
• Attended a child's open house at school
• Worked fewer hours to be with your family
• Set an example of a godly prayer life for your children
• Held a crying child
• Swung on the tire swing with your daughter
• Told your wife why you're still in love with her
• Told your son he's got what it takes
• Coached soccer
• Let you child correct you now and then
• Fixed the vacuum cleaner
• Taught your sons to ride a bike
• Listened patiently to a complaint of your wife
• Taped your child's artwork to your office wall
• Admitted to your kids that you were wrong
• Told your children how Christ entered your life
• Cleaned up vomit
• Taught your children to love books
• Been romantic without expecting sex
• Told your daughter she's smart/beautiful
• Set standards for your kids and stuck to them
• Dealt graciously with a busybody neighbor
• Peeled carrots
• Watched movies together
Staying Sharp Theme of the Week: Rest Is Not Optional Monday, June 28, 2004
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Men of IntegrityMay/June 2004Staying SharpTheme of the Week: Rest Is Not OptionalMonday, June 2873
Key Bible Verse: Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Bonus Reading:Matthew 11:2—30
Some years ago my wife, Gail, and I were hiking in the Alpine meadows of Switzerland. We stopped to watch the ballet-like movements of some grass cutters as they swept their blades across the heavy grasses. But periodically they'd stop cutting. Standing quietly, they'd talk as they swept a stone across the blade, resharpening it. Then after several moments they'd begin cutting again.
The point is obvious: The frequent rests not only restored the energy of the cutters but gave time for sharpening of the blades. Productivity was enhanced, not by continuous work but by work that was marked by periodic rests. Shouldn't all work be marked by this principle?
Rest is typified by the well-worn words we read in the Hebrew Scriptures: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." This is rest: a moment free from want or desire, a "lying down" and the refreshment of quiet (safe) waters. And when it happens, not only are the body and the mind brought to healing, the soul is reordered in divine peacefulness.
—Gordon MacDonald in Life@Work Adapted from Life@Work (7-8/99) by permission.
My Response: How will I integrate periodic rests into my work schedule?
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