You Have Permission to Just Rest {PhotoJournal}

Sometimes all you can do is inhale and exhale. 

The vacuum seems so heavy. 

The laundry is overwhelming.

You're so tired you don't want to talk to anyone or do anything. 

Even the fun stuff is less inviting.

You just want to put your feet up...lie down...be still in complete quiet

You have permission to rest. 

Take a real breather where you actually breathe.

That's what I've had to do the last few weeks. So I...

Admired my blooming tulips while I waited for my tea to brew.

Thought of soul beautiful people in my life...

and soft smiled for a long while.

Got comfy on the couch and snuggled with my pup.

Said prayers for my friends and fam who are facing challenges.

Got my pretty tea pot out and found some soft light by the window.

Put a tiny mum (from my sweet girl) in a tiny vase

Told our youngest to nap on his visit and soaked in his rest

It really made me breathe.

When you are empty, you have nothing to give. I say to my hubby, "I'm of no benefit to anyone or myself right now. I gotta have complete quiet."

My exhausted friend. You have permission to rest. I pray that you may find many moments for yourself.

Hugs from Hawaii,
Jeri



Mark 6:30-31 ~ The apostles then rendezvoused with Jesus and reported on all that they had done and taught. Jesus said, “Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest.” For there was constant coming and going. They didn’t even have time to eat.  (MSG) 

Mark 6:30- The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. (NIV)

Slowly sipping with Holley

 

Savoring sweet sips with Bonnie

  

A Sip of Kindness ~ #bekindtoyou

I wanted to drop you a sip of kindness. A gift of permission you can give yourself. Even for just five minutes. The way I think and see in my everyday has presented me a gift to unwrap. I had to share it with you.

The gift of self-kindness.
(We can do these together)

You can go ahead and rest for a bit.

You can take time for slow deep breaths with eyes closed.

You can make a cup of your favorite beverage and put your feet up until you run out of sips.

You can stop to whisper a breath prayer, "Jesus, thank you" or "Jesus, help me."

You can sit in complete quiet and do nothing before they get home.

You can thumb through your magazine or read a chapter in that book.

You can lay on the couch like a rag doll and just be.

You can look at yourself in the mirror and smile...for no reason.

You can be easier on yourself.

You can stop thinking you have to exhaust yourself to be doing a good job.

Go ahead. Yes, you can. Yes, you are totally allowed. Be kind to you and you will in turn be kind to the ones around you. I'll practice with you.

#bekindtoyou

Philippians 4:6-7The Message (MSG)

6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. 

Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

psst...Let me know how you practice self-kindness. How has it affected others? Oh, and do let me know if you try one or more of these this week. I'd love to hear about it.

Hugs from Hawaii,

Jeri

Come visit the communities where I find refreshing

I'm joining my friend Holley today.
Come on over and sip a cuppa.

 Holley's starts coffee for our hearts on Wednesdays. Thank goodness she pours all week, as I sometimes stop by other days. 

Come have coffee with Bonnie over at her place

 For a good 'shot' of Faith. 

Bonnie starts each Thursdays and pours all week long.

On Fridays, 

Share your own way of creating with Jen over at I Believe in Love

Once a month my wonderful friend Jenn from StudioJRU comes over too

My Journey to Rest brings Finding Spiritual Whitespace

"Finding spiritual whitespace isn't about carving out an hour of time to escape the things that stress us out. It's the opposite. It's getting away from everything we do to distract ourselves from all the hidden pieces - in order to nurture our soul." ~ Bonnie Gray (pg 49)

From my heart to yours...


Before the book arrived // The remembering begins

God had been helping me revisit some parts of my little girl years. The parts that were jumbled up in my memory. Moments that bring back the kind of heart hurt that feels semi-fresh. The last time I went through a remembering like this, I was 20 and expecting our second son. It all came flooding back, but I did nothing with it. I soldiered on. I don’t know why. 

Someone to tell // She doesn’t judge me ~ We all need ones like her

Last year, I shared with her about my childhood. The ugly, mess, and chaos. I feel safe with her, because she hears all the junk and never holds it against me. She helps me process through in words and prayer. Somehow our times together give me a sense of release and I see these things with purpose and possibility. I wrote her again because Bonnie’s book brought back a second flood. This time I want to go through it with God.

I am ready // I was being made ready ~ Maybe you too

He planned this season for me. Sometimes I don’t want to pick up her words. Words God gave her for ones like me. Maybe you too. I feel the pull to pick it up anyway. I pray and praise for the blessing of walking through this with Him and with someone else who is coming through too. Bonnie is doing this scared-brave. Sharing her ugly, mess, and chaos in hopes of helping others.

Warm sparkling light and Cool fresh Air // Opening up little by little

I write my friend that as I read Bonnie’s book, I feel as if something was stuck closed and is slowly cracking open. Fresh air is breezing in. I see God’s light warmly sparkling over the dark parts of my ‘room’ where I can now sit with God. I can’t always sit there long, but I can go there now. I’m less afraid. I see now, this is the time of receiving from God. The warm light inches slowly across my ‘room’ and amongst the ugly, mess and chaos there are pretty things. Wonders are there. Joys too. 

Finding Spiritual Whitespace - Awakening Your Soul To Rest by Bonnie Gray

Finding Spiritual Whitespace // Awakening Your Soul To Rest ~ Take your time

Bonnie’s words serve as our “guidebook” through our hard places. Words full of grace that offer to sit with us as we take the time we need to process. I love what she encouraged her book club to do in taking only “2 chapters a week to savor and listen to their hearts as they read…to journal the questions”. 

My soul is craving rest. The kind God brings to soothe and ease. Maybe you feel unsettled too. You can’t explain it. I pray reading Bonnie’s book will take you through what you need to heal and live on.

Hugs from Hawaii,

Jeri

Communities where I find refreshing

Joining a few friends this week. Come on over ...

Come have coffee with Bonnie over at her place

 For a good 'shot' of Faith. 

She starts each Thursdays and pours all week long.

On Fridays, Come and join me with Jen over at I Believe in Love once a month my wonderful friend Jenn from StudioJRU comes over too Share your own way of creating here.

 Holley's starts coffee for our hearts on Wednesdays. Thank goodness she pours all week, as I stop by on Fridays.  Come on over and sip a cuppa.

24 Seconds of Yellow, Sunsets, and Funstuff

It's so nice to be back out and about after a long rest and recovery. Even nicer to be back here connecting with everyone. My hello to brighten your weekend is in sharing a quick video with you and an invite to a few of my communities below. I've included as many links as possible for your ease. Any hashtags are usable for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Yellow: My teacher  Xanthe Berkeley invites us to color week now and then. Hence, yellow is this week. Come and join in. The color schedule is here. If you are on Instagram you can find her @xantheb and myself @jeri_taira. Let me know if you're there so we can connect. The hashtags are #colorcolourlovers and #colorcolour_____ (the blank is filled with the color of the week ex: #Colorcolouryellow)

Sunsets: You may already know that Sunset walks with My hubby and BigDog are a favorite of mine. One calming activity where I find my quiets and pauses. My friend Bonnie Gray has us reading up on creating and capturing our spiritual white space moments. The hashtag is #spiritualwhitespace
(I'll be sharing more on Bonnie's new book next, community, and activities next week).

Funstuff: I can't say enough of the fun I have with our grandson. I call him LilMan and he calls me Yaya. We seem to be into playing with cars a lot lately. Crash bang kind of playing. Brings out the tomboy in me.

Extras: I am still enjoying my times with God in #gofindourquiet and #pauseandlinger. Please do join in these anytime. I'll be watching for your captured times with joyful anticipation.

Do enjoy my 'hello, nice to be back' gifts to you and the short video below. I couldn't wait to share them with you.

God Bless and hugs from Hawaii,
Jeri xoxo



Yellow, Sun, and Fun from Jeri Taira on Vimeo.

Communities where I find refreshing

Joining a few friends this week. Come on over ...

You're invited to join me, my sweet friend Holley

and a few other ladies for coffee every Wednesday.

Sometimes I stop by a day or two later *blush*

Come have coffee with Bonnie over at her place

 For a good 'shot' of Faith. 

She starts each Thursdays and pours all week long.

On Fridays, Come and join me with Jen over at I Believe in Love once a month my wonderful friend Jenn from StudioJRU comes over too Share your own way of creating here.

Take It In :: A PhotoJournal

An impromptu family park day. Well, it was only a few hours and it was a blast. Not the noisy out loud kind of 'a blast'. But, the fun and relaxing kind that fills you. After, I took these, I joined in the basketball silliness and fun.

Happy Weekend everyone. May you find many moments to take in and then join in.

Do share any of your impromptu adventures that turned out soul good. I'd love to share in it with you.

Hugs from Hawaii,
Jeri

8 of my favorites from our park adventure

Hope you enjoy them

Communities where I find refreshing each week
come on over...

You're invited to join me, my sweet friend Holley

and a few other ladies for coffee every Wednesday.

Sometimes I stop by a day or two later *blush*

Come have coffee with Bonnie over at her place

 For a good 'shot' of Faith. 

She starts each Thursdays and pours all week long.

On Fridays, Come and join me with Jen over at I Believe in Love once a month my wonderful friend Jenn from StudioJRU comes over too Share your own way of creating here.

Pause and Linger :: #pauseandlinger

One of our fave spots overlooks our neighborhood golf course. Even BigDog loves it there

The word 'Selah' is defined as pause, crescendo, or musical interlude. Such a cool word. It's found throughout the Psalms at the end of verses, as a call to "pause and think on that".

There are so many obstacles to finding our quiet. We can be our own obstacle. It could be that the quiet feels so awkward in that loud silence. I giggle at that because my first time in the absolute silence, all I heard was the hum of all the appliances. Ha ha! I kept focusing on it. I thought it was such a waste. But, practice would prove otherwise.

Eventually, I found that my ultimate quiet is on long walks and hikes. Nurturing it in nature, made it more fruitful at home. It starts with a simple, whispered prayer, "Jesus, quiet me". I now crave my quiet. Oh to linger in that refreshing. So worth the pause.

First, we go find our quiet. Then, we pause and linger in it's soothing and refreshing. 

The first step. Practice. We can start off with a minute a day and work our way through to more. 

One minute of breathing deeply...

One minute of thinking on God's goodness in our lives...

One minute of eyes closed, soft-smile, happy sigh refreshing...

The hum of the appliances will fade. The awkward space will become a blanket of comfort. The day will come when you don't even realize it feels like home in the quiet. Ah yes.

Hugs from Hawaii,

Jeri

My #gofindourquiet and #pauseandlinger captures are on IG, Flickr, and FB.

Please feel free to join in and tag your photos so we can find each other.

God blessed me with this guy to poke at me if I'm stressed

Communities where I find refreshing

Joining a few friends this week. Come on over ...

You're invited to join us over at Holley's 

for coffee every Wednesday.

Sometimes I stop by a day or two later *blush*

Come get a shot of faith at Bonnie's

She starts each Thursdays and pours all week long.

On Fridays, Come and join me with Jen over at I Believe in Love once a month my wonderful friend Jenn from StudioJRU comes over too Share your own way of creating here.

Go Find Our Quiet :: #gofindourquiet

Finding my quiet on a Mother's Day drive
before our grown sons came over

Sometimes, we have to go and find our quiet. The kind that stills and refreshes our souls. The kind that feels so good you can't help but close your eyes and soft smile. I'm always learning on my journey. In this season, four vital go's have become my go-to's.

Our first vital 'go' is to be with God. We just need to go be there with God and let the quiet overwhelm us. Here is where the processing begins. Let the words start when they're ready to fall out. Let the silence still you when it tugs to say nothing and just be there with Him. Tears may come. Joy may come. Embrace it. Rest will definitely come.

Our second vital 'go' is me time. Yes, indeed. Insert huge smile. Our 'me time' is when we give time to what we truly enjoy. What do we truly enjoy? What leaves us feeling refreshed? What causes us to happy sigh spontaneously? Let's make our own lists and keep it close. Make note of the ones that require short and long periods of time so we can refresh as we need.

Our third vital 'go' is actual rest. Lay down, nap, sit back with our feet up. We may only be able to grab a few seconds, a few minutes, or sometimes longer.

Our fourth vial 'go' is good people. The ones who lift us up. Our encouragers. They make us laugh and even until our stomach's hurt. We feel better after having had time with them.

Let's make this week our new beginning. This is the kind of Major change that fills our souls.

I'd love to hear the ways you find your quiet. Please do sit a bit and share your thoughts with me.

Hugs from Hawaii,
Jeri

Psalm 46:10 (MSG)
Attention, all! See the marvels of God! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, Bans war from pole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee. “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” 

Jeremiah 2:25
“Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway? But you say, ‘I can’t help it...."

A few times I found my quiet this week

(my #gofindourquiet captures are on IG and Flickr
do share yours with me as well)

a short few minutes in my fave spot
before they all come home

whispered a prayer of gratitude in the stillness

just before the clean up...right after they've gone to sleep

Happy sighs watching the day turn to night
waiting for David to grab dinner

Breathing deeply in this still small moment
just before we begin our sunset walk

Communities where I find refreshing

Joining a few friends this week. Come on over ...

You're invited to join me, my sweet friend Holley

and a few other ladies for coffee every Wednesday.

Sometimes I stop by a day or two later *blush*

Come have coffee with Bonnie over at her place

 For a good 'shot' of Faith. 

She starts each Thursdays and pours all week long.

On Fridays, Come and join me with Jen over at I Believe in Love once a month my wonderful friend Jenn from StudioJRU comes over too Share your own way of creating here.

In the New Normal::Lessons from Lil Man and Dabee

He calls Dabee, 'Bubbee' lol

April 28th was my 5 month marker for adapting to our new normal. It has me looking around at all that has been changing. How much smoother the transition is occurring. Embracing the slow flow and constant rest. My heart lens has focused on the sweetest change lately. Our grandson has latched on to David.

I love watching Lil Man and Dabee together. He can hold a two way conversation now. He even lets us know when we aren't understanding him correctly. He still doesn't speak all clearly. Watching them helps me to learn new things about communication.

I'm seeing how Lil Man can best understand us - hand motions with words for example.
I'm learning a new side of David. An attentiveness and slowing when he's with Lil Man.

I see them both giving the time and paying attention to each other on purpose. The gift is sweetness. Their bond is rooted in accepting each other right where they are at.

Yes, indeed. I am learning life lessons from a soon to be 3-year old and my 'becoming' hubby.

Any sweet changes going on in your tribe? I'd love to hear about it and connect with you.

Hugs across the ocean,
Jeri

Too big for his car. Time to go shopping.

Joining in with a few friends today. Come on over ...

You're invited to join me, my sweet friend Holley

and a few other ladies for coffee every Wednesday.

Sometimes I stop by a day or two later *blush*

Come have coffee with Bonnie over at her place

 For a good 'shot' of Faith. 

She starts on Thursdays and pours all week long.

Come and join me with Jen over at I Believe in Love once a month my wonderful friend Jenn from StudioJRU comes over too