I recently moved from a position in a company where I was basically on-call 24/7 full of deadlines and pressure to a completely different environment.  My new position finds me with responsibility and accountability, but not the pressures of deadlines.

At the same time, my fiancé has found himself with more “free” time on his hands as well.  He has traditionally volunteered his off-work time to coaching football with several local area teams.  He does this in addition to his full time 50-60 hour/week position.  This season he is taking a break, and even with the long hours at his day job kicking up for his “busy season” seems to have a bit more rest coming his way.

For the past few years, we have talked about what we would do with that elusive “free-time” that we have heard about.  We talked about reading books, taking walks, sleeping more, basic enjoyment.

Now that we find ourselves in this position, it is striking me as a bit odd that we are both in a state of “rest” at the same time.

It makes me wonder what we are in fact resting up for.

We all know life tends to work in weird ways.

A check will show up in the mail 3 days before a bill for the just about the same amount.

A parent will have a day off from work for some reason on the day that a child ends up staying home ill.

It happens to all of us.

To be completely honest, I am slightly worried.  What is this rest for?  It can’t simply be so that we can enjoy the month before the wedding.  That would be too easy.

No, there is something coming.  I am not sure what, but it is just around the corner.

There are a few things I am sure of right now:

1. The next step for us is going to be a big one (and I am not talking about the vows and tacos next month).
2. Whatever it is, we will look back and be grateful for the time of rest.
3. We need to be present in the rest, soak it in, and not allow ourselves to create busyness in the rest time.

That last one is a hard one.  As people, we tend to fill the space.  We fill the silence with noise.  We fill the calm with activity.  We fill the rest with busyness.

I know it sounds crazy, but I know something is coming, a common saying in our home is “Everything happens for a reason, we all have our own path to greatness.”

I don’t know yet if whatever “it” is that is looming is professional, for him, for me, for both of us, if it is personal, or a combination of both.

I don’t know when.

I just know whatever the next step is, it is coming.

I can feel it.

When it comes, we need to be ready, and that just might mean being rested.

So for now, we take our time.

We have family dinners.  We take naps.  We recreationally read.  We give our minds, our bodies, and our spirits the rest they have craved while we were burning ALL of our candles at both ends.

And we prepare.

So that whenever the “next” comes, we will be able to look back at the time of rest and feel the calm, remember the peace.

Hopefully, that feeling will be able to carry us through whatever the next step towards “our own path to greatness” looks like for us.