My family has recently been through an incredibly stressful 3 months – nothing to complain about. All good stuff – but nonetheless some massive undertakings. We sell thousands of fruit trees at our AshThaba Farm to hundreds of people and that alone is a lot.
In the past 2.5 months, we have sold around 12,500 grafted commercial grade fruit trees. We produced our second season of our family building TV show, Talking with the Thabas, meant to restore and strengthen families.
Producing a TV show can take years. We had one month to do the majority of the filming. We planned and led a 19-day family building village wide campaign in a village called Serowe. You can watch that campaign on our Facebook page, Talking with the Thabas.
A campaign with the magnitude of 1,023 daily participants for 3 weeks – 66% of the participants did not miss one of the days! A retention rate which is so exciting! What a praise to have such awesome interest and participation, but it is a massive undertaking which should take years to plan. All this was on top of my husband’s normal project management job plus my normal duties. And of course, as we strive to encourage other people’s families, we do try to practise what we preach by pouring into our own immediate family. It is A LOT. Days are long and sleep is minimal. Eating can actually be forgotten in light of the ever growing to do list that never finishes.
I am sure each one of you can share the stresses you have gone through. Stress doesn’t have to be bad. It just means we get so busy we survive on adrenaline and the ever increasing to do list never seems to finish so our minds and bodies never have the luxury of sitting down and breathing a sigh of relief that ahhh... it is finished. How do we handle this? Is it healthy for our bodies to endure such never ending action items? Is this the plan of God? God created the entire world in 6 days. My little stresses are nothing compared to creating the Universe! Ha! Yet, God did something interesting. On the 7th day, He rested. I am sure there were still things to do. Another galaxy to form. Another species to create. Another way to show His love through the masterpiece of His creation. Yet, He rested. Amazingly, He offers us who believe in Him the same gift. Rest. “But God! You don’t know my to do list! You haven’t seen all I have to do! God, I just can’t stop! Who else will get this done?” That is me more often than I can count. What about you? Do you often feel there is too much to do to trust God’s promises to rest? Here are some verses for you to meditate and further thing about this idea of the gift of rest which God wants to give us. Hebrews 4:9-11. Matthew 11:28. Isaiah 26:3. Philippians 4:6-7. Psalms 37:7.
“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” Psalms 37:7 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3 This week I want to share with you what I am telling myself. STOP! Rest. Relax. Restore. Rejoice. It is always a CHOICE to Rest. Choosing to stop. Choosing to take a deep breath and relax. In that time of STOPPING, you will begin to restore your energy and replenish your strength! And as you restore your energy, you are able to stop stressing about your to do list and begin to REJOICE in what is going well, in what you have to be thankful for. And, that my friends, in a way to stay sane! To stay in the race. IN professional racing, they call these pitstops. Time to get out of the race for a few minutes in order to rest and refuel. Those cars that stop and enjoy the pitstops actually are more likely to win the race than the cars that drive until they run out of fuel, their wheels fall off, or their motors overheat. We, as humans, are similar. We were designed by our Creator and modelled by Him as well to take pitstops of life. I guess I should add another “R” to my list – Rest. Relax. Restore. Refuel. Rejoice.
*Ashley Thaba is a popular motivational speaker, family building facilitator, author and Producer of the hit TV show, Talking with the Thabas, which has strengthened thousands of marriages and helped countless families become stronger. Learn more about her work at www.ashleythaba.com or view her work on her YouTube channel: Ashley Thaba. You can buy three of her books: Dive In, Making Marriages Fun, and Conquering the Giants on her website. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Facebook: Talking with the Thabas.
