The Power of Relaxation

Benjamin Franklin once said *Write things worth reading or do things worth writing*..That has inspired me this afternoon.

The family took a 5 mile walk yesterday through a historic area in Europe. We loved almost every minute of it..(said keeping in mind that we stopped to nurse the baby 4 times, visited with other dog owners possibly more than 15 times)..Dogs are quite the deal here and each dog must nose to nose with our Beagle pup. We rarely allow her off the leash as Beagles are known to keep moving and never look back once they get that freedom feel. They are hounds in every sense of the word, so it was with much hesitation we allowed her off when a fellow dog owner insisted we do..(albeit in a foreign langauge, no less)..Her dog proceeded to take control and played ours out. It was the sweetest and funniest thing we have seen in a while. The children all laughed to see the chase and scampers of the two together. Said dog owner went off and Sasha went back on the leash, much happier. We are amazed at how much energy she possesses but how long she sleeps and how well she behaves after a nice looooooong romp or run :)

My hubby has 5 days off and the list to do has been buried and relaxation has kicked in for us. It is such a nice feeling to do everything together, cook together, walk together, clean up together and let it go and watch tv together. God has blessed us with the most wonderful family on the face of the earth..lol..and it is a sweet moment indeed to relax together. Being the wife of an always on call man, this feels all the nicer and is completed today by the overcast and rainy skies. Anna and Julia slept with me this afternoon for about 2 hours, Julia having a cold, nursed pretty much nonstop..(the best medicine to keep that nose breathing!!)..We are planning to take down the bed in the near future and go to a mattress on the floor as Julia is right at that to be crawling stage and we like her intact. Our bed is probably the highest bed I have ever seen and Anna fell off onto the carpet at the same age. We do not have the luxury of carpet here (and I hate it anyway..grin)..so time for something more baby safe!! But, not today...

I am thinking of how our Lord spent time in relaxation when he needed it. He took that time to go apart before he fell apart. We all know the world and the rat race are simply not going to stop anytime soon, and it is up to us to be wise even in this respect. I am a very private person and this is some of the reason. There has to be a time when you go apart and get that rest. Our soul and spirit need this time with the Lord, our bodies need this time to rest and our relationships need this time for bonding.

So, today, I leave you with the words of our Lord when he said *Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light*..How blessed I am to have a God who understands my need for rest!!

Ciao!!
Becky