Point to Ponder:
Do you pause and allow time for restoration?
In addition to Thanksgiving, Christmas and July 4th, my favorite day of the year was last night: daylight savings. I treasure a good sleep and I love going to bed knowing I have an extra hour. There’s also something grounding about an earlier sunset, the seasonal chill in the air, warm crock pot meals and Mother Nature providing shorter days to encourage a slower pace of life. For me, this leads to less distraction, more intention and increased gratitude. Moreover, this time of year inspires pause and restoration.
Just today we announced our second annual Re-New Year Retreat in San Diego that will take place February 1-4. The theme of the retreat is Pause and Restoration, which was chosen as a result of a Bible verse I recently read from Genesis 2: 2-4: “On the seventh day—with the canvas of the cosmos completed—God paused from His labor and rested. Thus God blessed day seven and made it special—an open time for pause and restoration, a sacred zone of Sabbath-Keeping, because God rested from all the work He had done in creation that day.”
Since my childhood I’ve known that after creating the universe God rested on the seventh day, however; I never read the verse written in such a powerful way as it was in my Bible, The Voice. Upon sharing the verse and inspiration with Amy Chibib and Crystal Tidmore, the iGnite retreat team, the “Pause and Restoration” theme was a unanimous "YES"!
But, what about pause and restoration now..today..before February 1st and throughout the whole year, and what does it really mean? We must incorporate this in our wellness wheel, as it is critical to living a truly present, intentional, fulfilled and grateful life, along with enjoying a fully functioning and healthy body, mind and spirit. As for what pause and restoration mean, while I have my own definition of them both, I looked them up in wikipedia and loved what I found.
Pause: a temporary stop in action or speech. Whether it be taking one minute or an hour each day to pause, be still, breathe, pray, meditate, get quiet, listen, look, and give thanks, the pause is the first step towards restoration.
Restoration: the action of returning something to a former owner, place or condition. The process of repairing or renovating a building, work of art, vehicle, so as to restore it to it’s original condition. This blows my mind! First, have you or do you at times feel like your life has been highjacked, you need to take back ownership and have it returned back to you? I do, I do! And, did you catch the correlation between “renovating a building, work of art and vehicle” and yourself? It’s no coincidence that your perfectly created temple is the building by which your body, mind and spirit resides. Your temple is a uniquely and intentionally made work of art; and your temple is the vehicle that carries you everywhere. Our building, work of art and vehicle need continual restoration, and that happens first by way of a pause, which opens the doors of gratitude and helps allows us to identify exactly what we need.
Whether restoration comes in a good nights rest, wholesome food, exercise, time alone or with family and friends, prayer, meditation, a retreat or vacation, I know you agree that your body, life, relationships, work--everything would exponentially benefit from at least one weekly pause. After all, if God needed it we definitely do! However, we must be on guard, as the distraction force (24-hour news cycle and television, around the clock social media, technology, extracurriculars,and something as simple as social opportunities) will pull us away from what's most important and make it extremely difficult to stop, listen, feel and give thanks. Ultimately, the decision to take back and restore our body, heart, mind, relationships, and life is ours and there's no better time than now--with shorter days, and the holidays upon us. It's the perfect time to pause, be restored and say, "thank you" for all we have.
Action Item:
Identify one time each day, every other day, or once per week that you can commit to an intentional pause, restoration and thanks giving.
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