Self Care

January 3, 2020

REA/L Moment: yesterday was a migraine day. Woke up, holding my head, feeling awful, only to throw the sheets back, run to the bathroom, and proceeded to uncontrollably heave repeatedly into the toilet. Spent the rest of the day fighting waves of nausea, a pounding head, and supreme guilt that I simply wasn’t living up to my “mom duties” for the day.

Flash forward to this morning. Woke up exhausted, having only gotten a few hours of sleep (again), but functioning. Completed morning “mom duties,” returned home, and faced a decision. Should I lay my tired body back down, hopefully getting some additional sleep, or should I just suck it up and start knocking things off my list? The decision came easily, and remarkably, shame-free: I slept.

And that, my friends, is self care. I wanted to feel good today instead of having another set back, so I did the smart thing and took care of myself. Our current culture may shout “self care,” but in the same breath, shamefully look down their noses at us with distain for such an act of “laziness.” Not only is this added “guilt” associated with self care unhelpful, it’s all together unhealthy!

So in my REA/L moment with you today, consider this: on multiple occasions Jesus, withdrew, and went off by Himself to pray, to rest, to recharge so He could continue doing good work. We are made in His image; therefore, there are times we too need to spend time by ourselves to pray, rest, and recharge. This is not shameful or lazy in the least! It is being respectful of our bodies, where His Holy Spirit resides. Let’s stop listening to the lies the world paints as truths. Let’s start diving more into His word for actual truth. Let’s live a life worthy of the one we’ve been called to!