Rest. Sweet Rest.

Yesterday I told you about our hard work on Saturday, and how excited we were to work on our own house after so many weeks of working at Ryan's dad's. It is indeed a blessing to be able to take care of your own things, isn't it?

But one of my other big goals for us in the month of July was to be able to get some rest. You've heard of that word, right? :)

Rest can take many forms. My favorite form happens to be a nap, but it's not the only way to rest.

In a weird way, for all the hard work it entailed, Ryan found our Saturday activities to be restful because they allowed him to mark things off his to-do list and gave him a sense of accomplishment he could see every time he looked out the window.

* Going to the fair last week was restful for us, because it gave us a night off from the norm and allowed us to have fun, a date night, have some of our favorite foods, and see friends.

* Scrapbooking here and there over the last couple of weeks has been restful for me, because it's given me a creative outlet. (Bonus: I received the last four books I ordered on a massive sale and may or may not have subjected everyone who crossed my path that day to sitting and looking at them.)

* Yesterday I spent a hefty dose of time on Pinterest. I hadn't done that in a while. Not only had I gone several days without even glancing at Pinterest, the last few times I had opened it, I had a specific hunt for information in mind. Yesterday I just scrolled and found treasures.

* Last night, Ryan and I sat together on the couch and watched America's Got Talent. We weren't working on computers or doing any other task while it aired. We just watched. Together. Over coffee. And I cried. (A lot.)

* Yesterday I also began working on our next county tour. We can count on one hand, I think, the number of county tours we've taken in the last year - maybe even year and a half. That's how crazy our schedule has been. To think about getting to do one of these days that brings us such joy is so fun. I'd almost forgotten how to plan them, but it was kind of like riding a bike. Came right back.

* We've squeezed in as many naps as we can possibly find time to take. Lunch hours, evenings, Sunday afternoons...if we can find a little stretch of time, we nap.

* Ryan has found rest in doing some small, truly not labor intensive projects around the house. Sometimes those little, easy things that pile up can end up becoming a big pain in the neck, can't they? He's had a chance to organize, purge, and update, and all of it has made him very happy. (And it's cut down on all the little piles!

Rest is sitting. Rest is napping. Rest is hobbying. Rest is togetherness. Rest is a gift.

The fall will be here in all its fury before we know it. I already put in a request to schedule our annual pictures in October...we're organizing our fall semester of small group studies...all those things are headed right for us, and life will get busy again. We know it.

So we embrace the rest.

And let's face it: it's going to be crazy hot over the next few days. What if we all just called that a great excuse to rest?

Consider this your permission. Rest your body and feed your soul, my friends.