G:

I find my life is like going to a smorgasbord. I pile too much on my plate and then I’m weighed down by it all and before the end of day I’m halfway comatose and wearing sweatpants. Like dessert, there are just some things I can’t say no to, like a full-time job. Or dinner with a friend. Or becoming a leader in a bible study. Or taking graduate classes. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach—I always think I can juggle it all. Except quiet time. For some reason quiet time is like that questionable pudding, or any kind of vegetable, that you’re fine with passing on. I always seem to choose something else, choose doing something else, over stopping everything and quieting my soul before You.

You were pretty smart when you created the Sabbath—a day set aside specifically for rest. To recuperate, to recharge. I think the only person who observes it today is Chickfila. Which is great except when I want a small cookies and cream milkshake on a Sunday afternoon.

But I know I need more than just the Sabbath, I need quiet and rejuvenating rest with You daily.

If I don’t have that quiet time where I remember to focus my heart on you, to rely on you, I can’t handle the tiny roll on my plate let alone the main course and other side dishes. Quiet time is necessary to be able to restore my soul, by focusing on the Restorer of my soul.

So before I fill up my plate, I want to focus on you. Seek your guidance. If there are things I need to say no to, help me say no. While they are on my plate, I want to focus on you throughout work, class, dinners with friends.

At the end of the day, I don’t want to be half comatose with stress, the weight of my world on my intestines. I want to be able to say I relied on you to help me through it all by relying on quiet time with you. But I’d like to still be in my sweatpants, however.

Your child,

m