Coffee, Rest, and Work

People don’t like Mondays. You always have that one person you says (in a bit way to perky way) “Does somebody have a case of the Mondays?” After resisting the urge to do bodily harm to said perky person, you soldier on on a Monday. Mondays mean going back to the grind. Mondays mean that reality once again starts over after the weekend made it all seem like just a dream. Some people come to dream Mondays. And if there’s a three day weekend, Tuesdays become Mondays and that throws off your whole schedule, save that the weekend is coming soon.

Me? I love Mondays. They’re my day off. Mondays are the days in which I rest, relax, enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning and pretty much try as hard as I can to do nothing. Unless absolutely important, I try to do no church work on a Monday. I get my e-mails straight to my phone, but, again, unless ultimately important, I wait until Tuesdays.

I used to try to take Fridays off. I heard from a number of pastoral leaders that they don’t like taking Mondays off. They’re fried by Sunday evening and why take a day off that you should enjoy if you are only recovering from Sunday. I tried that. But I rarely took a Friday off. Come Thursday evening, my sermons weren’t done, I had things to do the next day church wise, and I would be down right cranky. People assumed I took Mondays off and so would call me up on Fridays, or want to schedule things on Fridays. Or whatever. And I would be Cranky come Saturday.

And then, I tried something. Somewhere, written down in a book of unwritten rules for pastors, it says that Pastors MUST take Mondays off. It was just assumed. So I started doing that. And I realized something. Come Thursday night, my sermons typically weren’t finished yet, I had things to do the next day, but I wasn’t cranky. I was relaxed. I could handle what came my way.

And so, I have kept to that rhythm. From Tuesday to Friday and then Sunday (sometimes Saturday mornings for men’s Bible study or catch up work) I work. But I carve out time during my week to rest. To catch up. To refocus.

Now, don’t get me wrong, work is good. In the Garden God made created Adam and Eve to work and take care of the Garden. It’s part of our DNA to work. And even after the fall, work became tough but it was still something we were to do. And in the Ten Commandments, God instituted a day of rest, the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. A day in which we rest, trust in Him, and drink coffee. Lot’s of coffee. Okay, I added that last part.

I do sometimes do work on Mondays. Like writing this blog post. Or mowing the lawn. Or running errands. Or doing my Doctorate work (which I really should be doing instead of this). But I set aside this time to rest.

I also set aside time during the week to rest. Each morning, when I get into my office, I take time to read the Bible and pray. I didn’t really do that this week and I noticed a big difference in my productivity and focus. It was different. It was off. I didn’t like it. I also set aside time in the evening for my family. To rest with them. To enjoy time with them.

We get so busy and we don’t even notice it. We get so busy and don’t realize the great things around us. Stop. Enjoy. Rest. Take time to notice the spider weaving its web. The web takes hours to make is is destroyed the next day and is woven majestically the next day. (some are saying “Ew, spiders!” look at roses or the sky).

Take time to rest. Rest from work. Rest from busyness. Make a list of things you don’t have to do today and then don’t do them (I call that a “to-not-to-do list”). Take time during your week to spiritually rest. Take time, schedule it if you have to, to read God’s word and pray, leaning upon Him, resting in His arms, even for a moment. You’ll be amazed at how greatly that helps you during the day and week.

How can you find time to rest this week? Find it. Take it. Do it. And drink more coffee while you’re at it.