Wake up from your sleep

Now I don’t know about you but I have three kids, including a four month old son who sometimes sleeps through the night. I have a husband and brother-in-law in my home who get up for work at 5.15am and then two girls to get to school on time. Sometimes I feel like the bags under my eyes have their own bags. I have bags on bags. I spend a lot of my time doing and going. Plus I am a night owl through and through, catch me being productive at 11pm! Welcome to the life of a woman and mother right?! I know you feel me on this one!

I watch the Facebook clips that tell me to slow down, I read books and scriptures that tell me to rest and I totally agree. Yes! What great advice! But I can’t always drop everything and lie on the floor and soak in God’s presence. I still have kids homework to help with, dinner to make (my choice), a husband to build relationship with and the list goes on….. I’ve been doing some thinking lately and feel like we can live this life, even with the external busyness, and still feel some morsel of peace internally. It’s a work in progress and for me, it’s based on a couple of changes;

Being intentional with my thinking.

I recently did an incredible workshop which completely exposed my soul, in a good, I-need-some-work kinda way. And now I know I am a THINKER. I think constantly, there’s always something in my head. My husband (perhaps men in general lol) seem to be able to actually sit down and think about nothing. To have some blank space, and be cool with that. But me, oh no, this is not possible. The scenarios I come up with in my head, what if this happened, what would I do in this situation…..?! The comeback conversations I wish I’d had during conflict (I always sound so witty and gangsta in the comebacks-yet was a total ‘DUH’ in the real conversation!).

And then there’s thinking while I’m in my car, almost like dancing but in my head, one step, two step, twirl…and before I know it I’m like, Whoa! How did I get here!?

But if want to have an intimate relationship with my God, if I want to be called a friend of God, if I want to have fellowship with Him everyday, I feel like I need to be intentional with my thoughts. I yearn to have that kind of relationship with him. So often we get told to make the most of our time. How many minutes are there in a day? How much do I spend doing this or this or this? Well, how about our minds and our thinking? Our minds have the same amount of time as our bodies. How much airtime do we spend on thoughts which don’t encourage us, build us, build others and develop our relationship with our Father God. And this is not about rules (though for someone with my personality I really enjoy rules and boundaries).

But it is about being INTENTIONAL. It’s about making a choice.

My thoughts are tools. They can either build up or break down. I can pray in my head, I can be thankful in my head, I can have faith with my thoughts. I can allow clean thinking to override the dirt. I want to think about God as much as I thought about my husband when we first fell in love! Check out Philippians 4:8 if you want to know what the Bible tells us to think about!

Having constant fellowship with God.

When we are in Christ, when we as branches (humans) remain in the vine (God), only then do we really understand our identity and the love with which he created us. I am really good at compartmentalising (try popping that into normal conversation!) things. I can divide up my time, my to-do list, family time here, date night there, etc. But having that deep connection and fellowship with God means I can’t compartmentalise. I can’t put my time with him in a box. Yes I should make time to read His word and focussed on his presence. Yes I should spend time being sharpened and encouraged by other believers. But those are not the only times God is with me. I can’t divide Him up. I can’t isolate Him when I don’t want Him. He is ALWAYS with me. There’s no such thing as ‘back sliding’, or running away because that would imply that He is not near. When in fact, He is always near. Being in Christ means letting The Holy Spirit flow through me, an ongoing dialogue, intertwined and connected. In choosing to have a relationship with Christ, He takes me on a journey of understanding just how much he adores me.

And it was His choice to make me!

I may not wake up and feel like jumping for joy every morning. I may have bags on bags. I may struggle to think about good things and life might just be fast paced! But I do believe that even in this stage of life, among the kids, nappies, school runs and church life, we can have that peaceful and intimate relationship with our Creator. Yesterday I read a scripture that really tied it all together. Possibly, for me, one of the most beautiful pieces of scripture I have read. And I think if we can just begin to grasp what it is saying, that we can begin the journey of finding the peace and rest internally that we all long for.

Wake Up From Your Sleep | Ephesians 5:1-2 (MSG)

"Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behaviour from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love to get something from us but to give everything of himself. Love like that."

Love like that xxx

Rach

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Rachel Rerekura-Tamaiva

She is a woman of strength and dignity, a woman whose strength is greater than she even realises. Wisdom is on her tongue and God's love radiates from within her, shining so bright, she lights up any room she enters.

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