Embrace Rest:: Here's How

Embrace Rest:

• Share the gift of rest with someone else. Give them a three minute shoulder rub.
• Take a 20 min nap!
• Take 10 min alone to list your joys.
• Find a mom with a baby in your meeting and offer to hold the door, throw something away, or even hold the baby for a minute .
• Find somewhere unique to rest and do nothing. Post a picture of your resting spot.
• Do you love to read, draw, chat with friends? Carve out some time to do that this weekend!
• In the middle of a busy day, drink a bottle of water and spend of few minutes letting your body soak it up.
• Breathe deeply! In through your nose, out through your mouth and focus on breathing for the next 30 seconds. Thank God for a moment of rest.
• Focus on one thing you are incredibly thankful for. Thank God for this one element in your life; don’t make a list – simply thank him for this single powerful blessing and rest in the graciousness.
• Grab some lotion and give a friend a hand massage!
• Reading a good book? Tell someone about it.

Big or small, find ways to take a minute for yourself.  Whatever you find restful (which might not be "restful" at all--taking a walk or other kinds of exercise can absolutely satisfy your need for rest!), we encourage you to be intentional and seek that out today. Good luck!

Zach Brittle::Minding the P's and Q's of Your Marriage

//Remember: if you missed the meeting, or simply want to hear those wise words again, click on the link to your right ("UPC Audio Player") to find the speaker's talk. Happy listening!

WELL. I'd say our speaker kick-off last Tuesday got us off to a good start. Zach Brittle threw us into the deep end of the pool by discussing marriage and the way we look at those precious relationships. He challenged us to consider the meaning of marriage (with the help of the letter "P") through the lens of these three elements:

• Phases
• What phase are you in? What phases have you been in and how did you come through them? And where do you need permission, to argue, to dream, to lean in right now? And who needs to give that to you? God, your husband, or some other authority? 
• Perspective
• Where do you need to reset your perspective? To step back and see the bigger picture? You've been through phases before and they've passed, so you need to actively pursue a new perspective with the experience of the past that it will pass.
• Processes 
• It's important to be building processing skills, like learning how to ask questions and turn toward each other to build your friendship. How are you building your friendship? How are you managing conflict? What are you aware of in yourself? What's one thing you can change? What processes do you have in place that allow you to dream?

That's a lot of questions. But hopefully he prompted us to look deeper into our marriages and examine these important pieces.

And finally, my favorite quote Zach gave us about parenthood/marriage/life:

"It doesn't get better, it just gets different. It's always this."--Zach Brittle

Amen, brother.

Resources

The Relationship Alphabet by Zach Brittle

Intimate Mystery by Dan Allender

Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross

What Makes Love Last by John Gottman

 

Contact Zach Brittle