Permission to Be Still and Honor Your Needs
Pen poised over my journal one morning, I felt a nudge to be still. “Take some time to rest and just be,” the voice in my head prompted me. Over the next 24 hours, I contemplated those words. I tried to piece together what I was being called to do. Deep down, I knew, but it was easier to ignore that voice.
I continued to pursue the easy path and pressed on as I attempted to pay no mind to the pull I felt—the voice telling me to stop striving and to seek rest.
A few weeks later, the pull became too strong to ignore. I had no choice but to pay attention.
For two weeks, each time I sat down to write (if I found the motivation to begin), words would not come. Ideas dried up. I grew increasingly discouraged as I failed to find words. Lost, I opened my prayer journal and began to express my feelings to God. As my pen drafted the words “normally my words and ideas flow, but not lately” the answer became abundantly clear as the next line flowed out of me. “Today, may we extend permission not to perform but to be still and honor those needs in front of us.”
Permission not to perform but to be still and honor the needs in front of me.
We cannot pour out from an empty well. My attempts had caught up to me.
The goal of this space is to share encouragement that stirs you toward hope as you navigate the unexpected. To continue to pour into and serve you, I need to eliminate the pressure to show up here weekly. I need space to pour into myself so that every time I meet with you, it’s in a meaningful way. My prayer is that we all listen to our limitations as it brings honor to ourselves and to those who do life with us.
I truly love sharing in this space, and I am grateful to have a place to offer encouragement to you. While my weekly blog posts may become more sporadic, I will continue to offer encouragement through my monthly Abundant Life Letter. As I listen to the call to rest, I am confident that without the pressure to “perform,” words will once again flow and I will humbly share them as they do.
While stepping away felt like the harder path, I’ve found the harder path is often the one we are resistant to. The harder path is admitting I need rest and acknowledging I have limitations. It’s not easy to choose the harder path, but in my experience it’s the one that leads to a fuller life.
May we honor our limitations, friends. May we learn when to lean in and when to lean away. May we extend permission not to perform but to be still. May we remember that we cannot pour out from an empty well. May we carve out time to be still and to let our strivings cease.
Encouragement in the Wait
As you need encouragement, I pray you will find what your heart needs within the site. You can search for content in the upper right-hand corner or explore specific topics via the blog categories:
Intentional + Simplified Living
What I Learned (Reflection)
I’ll leave you with a few reader favorites:
On Hope: Remaining Faithful Through Our What Ifs
On Grace: Grant Yourself Some Grace | Accepting the Grace of New Mercies Every Morning
On Hard Days: A Prayer to Life Up on Hard Days | You Can Do Hard Things
Grace and peace to you, until next time.
