Rest Day

Carving out time to rest as a missionary can be pretty tricky at times. Many of the things we used to do to relax and have fun are things we can't really do here in PNG. Nevertheless, enjoying the blessing of rest is essential for long-term ministry.

Sarah and I tried something new this week. We decided to switch off watching the kids for 4 hours at a time so that the other could get time alone. This was really nice and restful. I spent time finishing a novel and watched a couple episodes of a tv show. It was a really good day of rest, topped off with Sarah's awesome homemade pizza and some episodes of Duck Dynasty.

I heard a really good quote this week as I was reading through some material on rest. I don't remember the exact quote, but the idea was that rest requires a level of trust. Trust that God will take care of everything while I take a rest. It's pretty crazy of me to think that God's work and ministry through us is going to crash if I take time to rest. I wouldn't ever say something like that, but do I live like that?

A teacher friend and mentor of mine once told me something along the lines of "Be faithful to what's in front of you, and as far as the rest, Jesus has that. He can handle it!". That continues to be encouraging to me, and I am so thankful for a God who has a wonderful plan for our lives that will not be thwarted!