The Rest of Summer

What a hiatus! Not that anyone really missed my blogging, obviously, but still! We've been so incredibly busy with everything at NEXT, Providence, and life, in general, that blogging has been an afterthought for the past months. Well, since March, as you can see. Now, with summer gradually winding down and us Wileys finding a new rhythm to life and family in our new home in McKinney, I'm finding more time to posit thoughts.

"The Rest of Summer" may appear to be the title of an article about what's going on with Carrie, Laura Kate and I the rest of this fine summer of 2009, but it's certainly not that. Summer, as far back as I can remember, has always been a time of rest from the usual grinds of school and whatnot. Even in ministry, when you have to kick it into a higher gear because of all the events you do during the summer (mission trips, camps, weekly contests, etc.), there is this weird sense of things being at relative rest.

This summer, though, has been anything but restful. From the move to NEXT trips to raising support to meeting with men from Providence on a weekly basis and teaching, things have been stressful, tense, and trying. There has been none of the relative ease of most summers, and it's something that I've missed. Most summers have the feel of a sip of cold sweet tea... everything just kind of slows down a little bit. How I pray for this feeling for the rest of the summer!

I don't want things to necessarily slow down or want to slack off, but I (and many of us) need to remember Matthew 11v.28 - "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Christ is speaking from a spiritual perspective, when it comes to religiosity, but how desperately many of us need to be reminded that this peace and rest is for every facet of our lives. The peace that Christ gives his people is for every part of their life. So, if you are swamped with business, you have peace in Christ. If you are worried about financial problems, you have peace in Christ. If things are not going well in your family, your energy bill is through the roof, you're not getting enough time to get away and relax... find peace in knowing that we are secure in Christ and that, ultimately, we have rest in him.

Easier said that lived out and practiced, but it's always good to preach these things to yourself!