After church on Sundays, Davis and I almost always eat out for lunch. I'm apparently not the woman my mother and grandmother were as I can't seem to pull off a 6 course meal after being gone all morning. As a result of my ineptness, we have 2 or 3 places we frequent on Sundays and the one we choose, well, that determines which group of our fellow church members we can expect to see. Our church gets out at 11:30, which gives us a 30 minute head start to the restaurants- ahead of most of the other churches in town. And everyone knows that 30 minutes can make a tremendous difference in the Sunday lunch scene. It's a clear advantage we enjoy, as First Baptists, as it means shorter wait times and onto what's next- just a step ahead of our dear, eternal brothers and sisters.

With our stomachs full, we head home and can't wait to get there. We pull into the garage and Davis unlocks the door and, just about the time he turns the key, he starts unzipping the back of my dress and I go kicking off my heels. We've got one thing on our minds. A Sunday afternoon nap.

Honestly, is there anything better, ladies, than coming home after church and peeling off those Spanx, slips, and all underthings binding and circulation stopping. It's such a feeling of relief when blood flow can resume to all parts of the body once again. The red, squished pinky toes, crammed into those heels, can flex out. The muffin top can be unleashed from being held under wraps. The ribcage is freed from the vise grip of the strapless bra. The feet can return to their normal color and natural angle. Comfort is restored and all that remain are the dull throbbings and deep creases left in the skin from having been crammed, sucked, or cinched by constricting lycra since Sunday school time. I honestly don't think men have any idea how uncomfortable we really are when we're all girded up in our Sunday best. Sure, they have their neck ties, but, please. Sermons would be straight to the point if preachers were in a spandex bodysuit under those shirts and ties and their feet were locked in at a 45 degree angle.

Carson is the only person in the family, whose zest for Sunday napping, might possibly rival mine. He practically leaps straight from the threshold to the bed upon returning from church. Blair and John Samuel don't really do naps and so, when they're here, I, unashamedly, excuse myself for or an hour or two. It's something I simply can't control. My body just shuts down.

Nothing primes you for a nap like the combination of a fully belly and the relief that those after-church clothes give. But, I think my body has just been trained to power off after lunch on Sundays. During my growing up years, it was understood that Sunday afternoon was mandatory nap time. My parents napped after lunch and so did we, kids, unless we preferred to do something outside or a quiet indoor activity that didn't disturb the snoozing in progress. Unless I'd brought a friend home from church, I always opted for the nap right after I'd read Blondie and Beetle Bailey. With my stomach full of roast, brown and serve rolls, and chocolate pie, I couldn't wait to crawl into that bed and crash. Even as a child, I recognized the value of a good nap.

In this age we live in, we're busier than ever. Probably even more so than those people, who had to cook over fire and fetch water and stuff. Most of our busyness is from our own choosing, though. Six days just won't hold everything our families are committed to and so I know how easily our Sundays can become an extension of our Saturdays. I've been guilty of making it another work day, shopping day, and chore day; depriving my body of rest and my soul of spiritual nourishment. Most of our kids are involved in so many activities that we don't know if we're coming or going. Our cell phones have us on call 24/7- their incessant alerts and demands are never more than an arm's length away. Sometimes, we even brag about our busyness and wear it proudly like a medal. Maybe we've let society convince us that the busier we are, the more successful we are. And the more involved our children are, the more advantages they will have. And that if our schedules are bulging, well, then we must be pretty darn important and well connected. With our calendars having so little room to pencil in rest, it's no wonder we're all stressed out, burned out, and completely wiped out.

When Jesus met up with his disciples after they'd been working, ministering, and traveling, He called them away from the crowd. "Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile."( Mark 6:31) Jesus knew the importance of resting, recovering, and recharging after working hard. He also knew that quiet and calm were required for that restorative process to take place and He wanted that kind of healing refreshment for his closest friends. And He wants it for us, too.

God, of course, even demonstrated resting for us when He took a day off after creating everything from Mars to porcupines. Talk about a long week. I think it was His nod to us saying that it's okay and, frankly, expected that we take time to rest our bodies and minds and spirits after working hard all week. There should be no sense of guilt. No fear of missed opportunity. No worry of sending out signals of weakness. It's required of us because He knew that it would be vital to our effectiveness and that non-stop activity is just unsustainable. But, somewhere along the way, we allowed our lopsided priorities to cram our planners. And, then, those planners started calling the shots. Those crammed planners are perpetual, relentless, and robbing us all of so much that is good.
     
Goodness knows, there are so many of God's directives that I struggle with each and every day. So, so, so many areas, where I fall painfully short. He knows where I'm weakest. But, let me hear something that sounds like it could be a Biblical call to napping and there's a command to which I can proficiently rise.           

"And by the seventh day, God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because, on it, He rested from all the work of creating that He had done." Genesis 2:2-3

Y'all have a great Wednesday!