I wrote this one just before COVID…

It's been a while since I could do this. I'm sitting in the swing I bought on some exotic vacation with Wyn – maybe in Mexico. Or perhaps in Africa. Somewhere far away and warm and peaceful.

I spend a lot of summer days in this swing – reading books or playing on my phone. The top hooks to the beam of my balcony and swings and sways as I push my toes against the posts. Sometimes I'm facing the water, the sun in my eyes. Sometimes I spin toward the wall of my house, cooling quickly in the shade, catching a glimpse of a cat in the window.

It's peaceful but it's not quiet. The birds are loud – singing and screeching, whistling and warbling. Some cawing. If I sit still long enough they come back to the feeder and squabble at the birdbath.

Now and then a car drives by, or a truck rattles loudly as it hits the bump by the culvert. I can hear an intermittent banging as someone's working on the other side of the wooded wetland. Occasionally an airplane passes high overhead.

Other than the fleeting bird shadows and the swaying swing, everything is still. The woodchucks are tucked away. The beavers have moved downstream. We've got a muskrat who comes out now and then and a pair of coons who raid the birdfeeder at night, but they're all resting right now.

As am I.

Resting.

I haven't been doing much of that lately. I've been doing. I've been reading. I've been writing. I've been cleaning. Cooking. Sorting, teaching, going. I've even been waiting. But I haven't been resting.

Today as I carried the groceries into the house I realized just how beautiful it was out. So I stuck the food in the fridge, grabbed a book, a pad, and a pen and hung up my swing.

As soon as I crawled into the netting and tucked up my feet, I felt it – my soul was at rest.

Getting things done is so, so important. Spending time with loved ones is also extremely important. Taking time to relax – watching tv, reading a book, going to bed early – that's important, too.

But resting is absolutely essential.

I've heard that 20 minutes in nature can help reset your brain.

I know that 20 minutes in my swing stills my heart and slows my breathing.

The worries about what's done and not done fade under the birdsong.

When I'm in my swing, it's so simple and easy to be still and know that He is God.

The sun has slipped behind a cloud, reminding me that we are still in the early days of spring but I'm not ready to go back inside just yet.

I know I'll have to and I know my to do list is still in there waiting for me, unchanged and unfinished. But now it's also undaunting.

I hope that you and yours have been able to find rest for your hearts, minds, and souls during these chaotic times.