Take a deep breath.
You are welcome here.
You are invited to join me for 31 days of rest and prayer. I’m not great at either of these things so that’s why I’m focusing on them—I desperately want to work these two beauties into my tightly wound life.
I need to unwind from the inside out.
My type A, firstborn, perfectionistic side wants to plot out our journey, step-by-step. But, this is not that kind of journey. This is a one-day-at-a-time, let’s-slow-down-and-savor-deep, walk with a friend. This is a let’s-see-what’s-in-store and not-rush-ahead kind of deal.
Not so good at these kind of walks—I’d rather sprint, but I’m tired of wearing myself and others out with all my striving and driving.
It’s time to release my rights and sit down so that I can learn to stand upon Jesus daily—not just in the big moments, but in the everyday messes and small successes.
It’s time to move over, out of the driver’s seat, and let God lead where He sees fit. He knows best, I do not. But I haven’t been living like it.
I have been scurrying, hurrying, plopping and dropping and I feel tangled up.
I need to be unwound so that I don’t wound myself or my loved ones further.
My shoulders ache. My mind is distracted. My soul is numb.
I long to be relaxed, refocused, and revived.
I have been living tired, angry and restless.
I yearn to be well—physically, emotionally and spiritually.
A few things I do know about the Restoration Project:
- I will try to practice what I preach because I desperately need to pray more and rest better (and I told hubby I would).
- I will try and keep the posts shorter than usual.
- I will Periscope each week day (M-F) at 1:30 EST to recap what we are learning (you can find me @Katie_M_Reid on Periscope, but if you can’t catch me live head on over to katch.me/katie_m_reid for the replays),
- I will invite friends to share their hearts with you on Thursdays and Fridays through special guest posts,
- There will be relaxing Saturdays with ideas to help you #funwind—that’s my way of putting “fun” and “unwind” together. See how I did that? 🙂
- There will be simple and sacred Sundays (just a picture, scripture and brief thoughts to reflect upon as you put your feet up).
Will you join me as we unwind through rest and prayer?
P.S. I am excited to be linking up this series with write31days.com for the October writing challenge. Are you doing a series? Head on over for some great reading this month. Darling Daughter is doing a series called, Mixing It Up with the Masters (31 days of cooking tips from famous and not-so-famous chefs). If you have a tip, tweet it to me and she may include it.
P.P.S Make sure you don’t miss a post in this series—subscribe by email (at the top of the blog) to have the posts delivered to your inbox. 🙂
Restoration Project:
I will update this page (below) with the latest posts for the Restoration Project or you can view the posts by searching the “Restoration Project” category.
Day 1: Help Me Catch My Breath
I’m starting off this series with a post over on Purposeful Faith as we evaluate our pace. Come on over and let’s take some deep breaths as we begin this journey…
Day 2: Deposit Rest (Guest Post: Marina Bromley)
Day 3: Unwind this Weekend
Day #4: Just Breathe
Day #5: The Miracle that Answered Many Prayers
Day #6: Dear Tightly Wound Woman: Being Restored and Renewed
Day #7: Crying Over Clutter and Throwing Away Stress
Day #8: Art of Rest (Guest Post: Michelle Acker)
Day #9: Delays Construct Character
I’m also over at God-sized Dreams today discussing that Detours Aren’t Dead-End Dreams.
Day #10: A Break from the Ordinary
Day #11: Resting Within
Day #12: O Lord, Hear Our Prayer
Day #13: Women at War (Book Review)
Day #14: The Gift of Rest (Revisited)
Day #15: 5 Strategies for a Season of Sanity and Peace (Guest Post: Cindy Bultema)
Day #16: When Chaos Swirls Around Us (Guest Post: Angela Parlin)
Day #17: Stand Still
Day #18: Lay Down Your Burdens
Day #19: You’re Still Invited
Day #20: Resting in Preparation
Day #21: Don’t Edit Your Prayers
Day #22: Home and Heart Renovation (Guest Post: Jessica D.)
Day #23: Finding Rest in A Busy World (Guest Post: Caryn Christensen)
Day #24: Do That Thing You’ve Been Avoiding
Day #25: Content with this Day
Day #26: Find Your Reach (Extension 26)
Day #27: Finding Spiritual Whitespace (Book Review)
Day #28: Undo Your Prayer (Guest Post: Charity Harris)
Day #29: How to Rest in Motion (Guest Post: Christie Hughes)
Day #30: The Rest of God (Guest Post: Karina Allen)
I’m looking forward to your beautiful words, Katie! I’m going to try to step into the whole Periscope thing pretty soon. I’ve been enjoying what you’re doing. Keep up the great encouragement, friend!
Thank you Jennifer. Yeah for Periscope!
I really look forward to reading your posts. They sound wonderful, and relevant to so many in our culture. I read your post for today and I also fall into the sprint trap. Though I will never actually run in a marathon, I am also trying to learn how to metaphically “run the race with endurance.”
God Bless You!
Amy
Thank you Amy. Yes, let’s run this race with endurance not exhaustion.
Looking forward to your series!!
Thank you Candace. Glad we connected via write31days. Happy writing!
Joining you from Write 31 Days! Your 31 days series spoke to me the moment I saw your link – can’t wait to follow along.
Thank you Shannon. So glad you are joining us for this journey. Are you doing a series as well?
Katie! Where do I begin? First off, “Restoration” is totally the theme of my season of life right now (I wrote about restoration a few months ago: http://contemplationsandnotions.blogspot.com/2015/04/this-old-house.html ) I am clinging to the promise in Psalm 23:3a (“He RESTORES my soul…”) like it is a life line. When I saw the title of this post, it resonated in a huge way with me. Then, I read your words, “It’s time to move over, out of the driver’s seat, and let God lead where He sees fit. He knows best, I do not. But I haven’t been living like it.” Would you believe me if I told you just a couple weeks ago I had a neck injury that brought me to a point in prayer where I was repenting for being so stiff-necked in my refusal to give up the steering wheel in my life? Seriously. I can’t even begin to tell you how I thank God for having our paths cross, thoughts you have stirred and the things He has confirmed through some of your words have been such a blessing. I look forward to the next 30 days! <3
Hi Jessica! You and your words are a blessing to me. I am glad that I’m not alone on this journey of handing over control as He restores. Thank you for joining us on this journey may He lead each of us in the way we need to go and may we not fight Him in the process. 🙂 But even if we do have some tantrums, He has so much grace for us—so thankful for that.
I am not always so great at resting either. Looking forward to your series. And love your Periscopes. I love the idea of something fun to funwind for the weekends! I am reminded of the words “Be still and know that I am God!”
Hi Tara. My prayer is that we can rest better this month, knowing that God is on the throne and He is our constant, even in the chaos.
I think you have a great topic, and after this current season in my life (aka the season of CRAZY busy), I think I’ll need to focus on RESToration!
Hi Jen! Great to see you here. Praying that He restores and renews us as we follow His lead and rest in His Sufficiency.
YAY MOM!!!! I <3 you! My blog STILL is not working! 🙁 Don't think I'll be able 2 do my posts, Dad doesn't know what it is either.
My Kookin and Bakin blog is the one that is not working. Oh and GR8 job on ALL your posts! U rock!!!! U r the coolest Mom (of 5) EVER!!!! 8-D
YAY!!!! Mom u r amazing! I <3 u!!!!