A Worthy Motto for Today...

...and for tomorrow...and for all the tomorrows until this baby is born...and for quite a few days after her birth, too!  :)

This magnet, illustrated by Mary Engelbreit, hangs on the side of my refrigerator; but even though it's in plain view, I'm sure I don't notice it often enough.  But the quote found on it has been speaking to my soul recently:

Take rest; 

a field that has rested

gives a bountiful crop.

~ Ovid, a Roman poet of ancient times

As I've pondered these words during this time of my body growing heavier, my actions becoming slower, and my energy failing quicker, I've discovered a few things.  First, a nap is not wasted time.  Second, "rest" is not just sleep; sometimes it's sitting down to put my feet up and read another chapter in a book.  Third, at times the most restful thing is to actually take the time I could be sleeping and use it to accomplish something productive, usually something household-oriented.  For example, my spirit was refreshed by taking an afternoon in which I could have had a long nap and instead using that time to completely finish cleaning and organizing Tobin's room which had been in disarray since our painting project started in it.  To bring that extended project to a satisfying conclusion energized me far more than sleeping on the couch for a few hours could have done.

So in the next month or so, and even beyond, I'm trying to embrace the concept of rest.  At a time when I'm feeling the urgent need to DO STUFF and FINISH PROJECTS and CROSS THINGS OFF MY TO-DO LIST and NEST BEFORE THE BABY COMES, I need to be reminded that sometimes the better use of time is abandoning the lists...

...and simply resting.