Rest

I am sitting here in my quiet house (no daughter or husband) listening to Christmas music via the satellite and watching the twinkling lights on our tree. Resting. On the Lord's Day.

I can hear the dish washer. And I hear the dryer in the utility room (the washing machine is finished with yet another load of laundry and "patiently" waiting to be emptied). Our air is on - if you can believe that!

And I gently hear the voice of the Lord say, "Rest." What a great word!

I like to think of Mary at this time of year. Nine months pregnant and riding a donkey all that way to Bethlehem? My crazy, selfish brain wants to ask, "What in the world were you thinking? How did you deliver your own child?" I think she must have been pretty darn special - in every way. God obviously did. A girl, yet a woman, too. Did she have any type of conversation with her mother before she and Joseph struck out about what to expect? What to do? Was Joseph any help at all? What did it feel like - in between contractions - to quickly be told there is no where to lay down? No where to rest?

Oh, Father, may there always be plenty of room in my heart and life for You to find complete and utter rest.