Sick & Tired

Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: rejoice!  |  Philippians 4:4

I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired. It seems like the past six weeks I've spent more time in bed recovering from various types of sickness, exhaustion, and anxiety than ever before. Flu season is no joke, and neither is urge to go into deep hibernation during winter months. Summer, hurry back to me.

Normally I would kick the winter blues by burying myself in work and packing my schedule with social events. But since I've been making relaxation a priority lately, those things no longer seem like the best solution.

This year in his annual Christmas letter to me, my dad challenged me to learn how to spend time with the Holy Spirit. I talk to God all the time and rely on Jesus daily—but sitting in the Spirit has always been a tough one for me. I do love a good challenge and knew I needed to try a new way to invigorate my day-to-day, so I made a plan.

Each morning I wake up 15 minutes earlier than needed to read and focus on what the Spirit is saying. Since I have always loved sleeping until the last minute, I've been amazed at how dramatically this new practice has transformed each day. Don't get me wrong—I don't jump out of bed and bounce around the apartment—I'm always tempted to skip a day due to mental and emotional exhaustion. But as I go about my normal routine after quiet time, I can feel my spirits slowing raising to greet the day. By the time I'm walking to work, my mind and heart are refreshed and expectant for what's to come. And when I go to bed, no matter how sick, stressed, anxious, or tired work made me, my day feels complete and I fall into a peaceful sleep. I'm embarrassed to say it, but I doubted something like quiet time could actually transform my day. But it's true and I'm so thankful for the daily refreshment.

K