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| Mt. Ibuki in Japan |
My husband and I serve in Japan. Christmas is not a national holiday here, but it is our biggest ministry time of the year. Many people do not know what Christmas is, but they know it has something to do with the church. From the time we celebrate American Thanksgiving with family and friends until New Year’s Day, life is a whirlwind. I heard a missionary say once that from Thanksgiving to Christmas she felt like a train picking up speed and that on New Year’s Day, she was going to crash. HA! I think of that every year as I feel like I am on a run away train.
New Year’s Day is the biggest holiday event of the year here in Japan. That day is spent quietly with family. We are not usually a part of the day with anyone. Occasionally we may have a New Year’s breakfast at church depending on the day of the week it falls on. I make our traditional American New Year's meal. This year it was a dinner for two. The holiday season generally lasts from the first through the fifth. I love those days. Everything is quiet. A lot of places are closed. This year I declared it as a time for personal retreat.
During this personal retreat time, I didn’t do any work other than what was required in order to survive. I didn't set an alarm clock for five days. I rested. I spent time in the Word. I read. I planned out some things for the next year. I joked with my husband about being on “staycation.” Except I wasn’t really joking…
This was such a wonderful time. I am hoping to make it an annual event. I didn’t realize how much I needed it until I was half-way through it. It was somewhat easy for me to do this since I am an empty-nester. If you have a houseful to care for, you may need to get some help from the outside to help make this happen. If your children are old enough to share some of the load, get them to help you. Offer them a reward of some kind at the end of your retreat time for a job well done.
How about it, dear missionary woman? Will you take time to be refreshed? Or are you like so many, myself included, that just keeps going and going until our battery is dead? No matter what month of the year it is, will you set some time aside to be refreshed? You will be so glad that you did!
“Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while…”
~Mark 6:31
2 comments:
I recently did this as well. Was able to get a cheap hotel and have a few days alone. It was lovely.
I take some time during my birthday for this very thing. I call it my personal new year. My birthday is the first week of November and so it is well placed for me to reflect on the last year and gear up for the new. My family members are more inclined to cheerfully cover my chores as an "act of service" birthday gift before we are all celebrated out during the holidays. It also allows me to be available to help them rest, recover and hit the ground running in January.
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