Come & Rest

 Then Jesus said, "Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile." – Mark 6:31

"A man in the presence of a real woman loves being a man." -Captivating 

I am daydreamer. Always have been. I am also a helpless romantic. They kind of go hand-and-hand I guess. Over the last few months, maybe even longer than that, I've had this image of my future husband (whoever he is) walking through the front door and kicking off his shoes. That image soon turned into a desire, and here lately a prayer! Let me explain. 

I just want him to be able to come home, and kick off his shoes and rest. I want our home to be a safe place for him, and soft place to land after a hard day. I have always said that I wanted to be a partner in ministry with whomever I marry, and I still desire that, but it’s beginning to take a little different shape than I always imagined. I think in part because I am beginning to really understand, as much as I can being single, what my role as helpmate will be one day. 

How can I make his life easier, not harder?

As I was thinking on this I felt lead to read a excerpt from the book Captivating. Within just a few seconds on opening the book by eyes feel on this heading, “beauty flows from a heart at rest.” That’s the kind of woman I want to be. Not just for my future husband, bur for the sake of those around me.

For whatever reason lately I have just had that image of  whomever I marry being able to walk through the door, kick off his shoes, sit on the couch and be able to take a deep breath, and simply…rest. I want not just my home to be peaceful, but my heart to be a safe place for him--the kind of woman who has a heart at rest. 

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gently and quiet spirit. (1 Peter 3:3-4).  

“Beauty flows from a heart at rest. To have a gentle and quiet spirit is to have a heart of faith, a heart that trusts in God, a spirit that has been quieted by his love and filled with his peace. Not a heart that is striving and restless. A woman in her glory, a woman of beauty, is a woman who is not striving to become beautiful or worthy or enough. She knows in her quiet center where God dwells that he finds her beautiful, has deemed her worthy, and in him, she is enough. In fact, the only thing getting in the way of our being fully captivating and enjoyed is our striving. “He will quiet you with his love” (Zeph. 3:17). A woman of true beauty is a woman who in the depths of her soul is at rest, trusting God because she has come to know him to be worthy of her trust. She exudes a sense of calm, a sense of rest, and invites those around her to rest as well. She speaks comfort; she knows that we live in a world at war, that we have a vicious enemy, and our journey is through a broken world. But she also knows that because of God all is well, that all will be well. A woman of true beauty offers others the grace to be and the room to become. In her presence, we can release the tension and pressure that so often grip our hearts. We can also breathe in the truth that God loves us and he is good."