The need to recharge

As we near the end of spring break, I am reminded of how much we truly need to take time to recharge. Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. There's a reason God asks us to set apart the Sabbath--we can accomplish more by honoring it than we can by ignoring it.

Last week was a full week for my family. Had I added one more thing to it, I likely would not have enjoyed any of it (or at least anything after the first day of activities). Tuesday kept us going non-stop from 6 am till 10:30 at night with work, school, and soccer activities. Our boys' high school teams played each other, plus it happened to be Senior Night for Juan's soccer team. So my day consisted of school all day, a meeting after school till 4:00, a 4:30 soccer game at Juan's school to watch David play (they tied, keeping their undefeated streak, claiming first place for all the Freshman teams in the district), a quick dinner at Chick Fil-A with David at 6:00, a fast return to Juan's school by 7:00 to walk out on the field with Juan while they recognized him as one of the Senior players, a 7:30 game against their biggest rival (David's school) which ended in a tie, leading into penalty kicks, giving Juan's team the final victory for the night (leaving both schools as co-district champs, tied for 1st place). By 10:30 that night, we finally got home and fell straight into bed.

After a night like that, I was very thankful I left my Wednesday evenings open this semester, giving me a chance to rest and recharge from the night before. Thursday night would hold another late evening, one I would have ended up resenting had I not taken a break between the two nights.

Thursday evening I met up with a friend at the Rockwall campus at church to attend Awaken, a very special evening with Priscilla Shirer. Her message challenged us to live fully awake to the things of God, fully accepting our lot in life at this time, aware that God placed us exactly where we are in life for a divine purpose. We have not been cheated--we've been chosen. Years from now, people will not remember our accomplishments, but they will remember how we responded to whatever ailment God allowed us to suffer.

Had I been exhausted by the time I arrived, I might not have been fully awake enough to let God speak to me through her message. I'm so glad my friend invited me and gave me the chance to be there.

Friday evening I readied my classroom for spring break, sent my kids off with a smile, and headed to watch David's last soccer game with his Freshman team. He left with his girlfriend and her mom to attend a youth event at church while I headed across town to watch Juan's last regular season game at yet another high school. Now all that's left are the playoffs. My teacher badge won't get me in for free to those games, plus they're all out of district, so looks like I won't be going to many more high school games. After the game, Juan went to a cook-out to celebrate their win, while I grabbed a very quick bit to eat and then headed to the church to pick up David. By 9:00, I got home and fell into bed shortly after.

Saturday held just as much activity, if not more, and I didn't give myself a break between three full days and nights. And I felt the effects by Sunday. Between a pancake breakfast with David to support Juan's team, lunch out with Juan at a new Colombian restaurant, grocery shopping, a flat tire, church, and a friend's 50th birthday celebration, I came home exhausted. I've worked hard to not get to that point this semester, and I was reminded quickly of why it's so important to PLAN times of rest in between activities.

So when the dogs disappeared on Sunday afternoon, I could only breathe out a long sigh. How dare they on my day of rest????? After searching for them for a few hours on Sunday, I went to bed early because I felt so depressed that they were gone. And I don't really even care for the dogs that much, but I hurt for them, not knowing if they were cold, hungry, sad, or even if they had stayed together. Thankfully we got a call the next day from a neighbor on the next street saying our dogs went in their garage the day before and refused to leave! Silly dogs. I'm just glad they stayed together, they're okay, and they're home--and we didn't have to pay any "get out of jail" fees to the shelter.

We filled our first few days of spring break with appointments we didn't have time for in the regular school season, spent a day at Six Flags, and now I'm determined to stay home and recharge for the last few days. When I take time to rest, I end up feeling better, have more energy, get more accomplished each day, stay focused, connect more closely with God, and I even see things from a more positive perspective. When I let myself get run-down, it's easy to let my stress level get the better of me. We're going to have a full plate from here till the end of school, with David's recreational soccer season starting next week, Juan getting everything in order for graduation, college prep stuff, and getting ready physically, financially, spiritually and emotionally for a summer full of traveling. I've definitely got to be fully awake these next few months! I've been asking God for some big things lately, and I don't want to miss seeing how He answers.