{encouraged} in the rut

This past week was... It just was.  

Have you ever had a day, or a week, where you just weren't happy?

Last week was that week for me.  I don't know if it was the change in schedule from work and school being in full force, or having a brand new set of students, or missing my free time to discover me, or....

I just don't know.  The hardest part of all was that looming feeling of guilt.  What do I have to be sad or unhappy about???  I have a job.  An amazing husband.  A beautiful little home.

Then, I got sick.  It's part of the job.  

And then I got a beautiful e-mail from a friend who was passing along a Proverbs 31 ministries devotional to me.  I had already gotten it in my inbox but hadn't read it yet.  Maybe God wanted me to read it twice?

“…He said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet 

and get some rest.’” Mark 6:31b (NIV 1984)

Then, I started looking through my Pinterest boards: 

  

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I constantly struggle with getting down on myself.  Continuing to fill my mind and body with such negative thoughts is so unhealthy and only holds me back to what I think I am capable of.  I am capable of so much more!

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My beautiful mother always said this to me.  It's definitely a "Becky-ism"!  Although there are no major things going on to create this "funk" I was in, I have to know that it is just a phase.  It is not what I'm destined for.  

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Amen!

Being sick, reading a perfect devotional, and reading through all of these encouraging pins made me realize that I need to rest.  I'm definitely a busy body.  My body needs to rest, and I find that when I rest I see who I am more clearly.  I become happy with who I am, what I do, where I have been.  

A good majority of my weekend was spent on the couch watching too many episodes of "Brothers and Sisters" on Netflix.  Typical Jamie would start getting down on herself for not being productive.  But, rest is just what I needed.  It was through resting that I prayed, sought after God's joy in my life, and realized that waking up each day with joy realizing I have one more day on this Earth makes so much more of an impact.  

Today was a beautiful day.  Although I'm still sick, I feel rested and alive.  I feel joyful and exuberant.  My students were amazing today.  I laughed...they laughed.  I came home after a 13 hour work/school day and laughed with the husband.  Laughter is what feeds my soul.  

I just had to add that this always brightens me up when I see it:

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