Resting in God

I love my job. I really do. I can't actually say in one word "what" it is I do. I suppose I could say I am a barista. I know a lot about coffee and I simply love making a good drink for people. However, now that I'm working at a coffee shop that serves lunch, I'm not sure what to call myself (especially since I am making lunches a majority of the time). A food server? Preparer? Ah, who knows...

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is that it gives me the opportunity to pray for complete strangers. As I make their drinks or prepare their lunches, or even when I wipe off the tables, I say a quick prayer for the people who will be eating, drinking or dining there. I consider it such a privilege to be able to serve people, both physically and maybe in a spiritual way they aren't even aware of but perhaps they need.

Where I'm going from here, however, will likely sound like a contradiction in those previous two paragraphs. Why? Because one of the things I am also finding as I'm serving people all day is that I come home to serve my kids when they come home from school. And my husband. And many days, it doesn't seem like I stop serving.

I know this sounds like complaining, but I really don't think I am. Moreso, it's an acknowledgement to myself that I need to take breaks and rest. But not in the way you may think. While personal rest and relaxation sounds heavenly right now (after not going 5 minutes without a personal request from SOMEONE today), I am realizing that I need to step back and find rest in God. While I love bringing requests to Him, I am also recognizing in a HUGE way my need to just listen, to be quiet and open my ears to what God is trying to tell me and teach me at any given moment. When I get so entangled with bringing what only seems to be my requests to God, I forget and easily miss the rest He provides for me when I quietly pursue His voice.

There are times during the day when I wish I could just stop. Not from physical exhaustion or from overwhelming tasks, but because I find myself overcome with a relentless desire to just climb up on my heavenly Father's lap and curl up close enough to just hear His heart. I've been neglecting that lately.