Just what the doctor ordered…

By Kim Anthony

If you’re anything like me… you can’t sit still. Unless I’m away from home for the holidays, I’ll find something to renovate and it’s impossible to rest!

Coming into this Christmas season many of us will have some time off and it’s important to understand how important festive times are to us as human beings.

Rest and fun are not privileges. They are not just ‘nice to haves’. Rest and fun are central to us being holistically healthy people. It’s like play for kids. It’s not just something they do for fun. Play is how they learn and grow. And unless they play well they don’t learn well, or walk well, or talk well, or work well… you get the idea.

For us to be healthy, un-burnt out people who are free to dream, create and transform the future, we need to unwind. You don’t want to just get by, you want to flourish.

Life is like an elastic band. It can be stretched and it’s possible to fit in much more than we initially thought possible. But you know what happens when you overstretch a rubber band…

Now I know what it’s like to be busy and tempted to cut the candle in half and burn it at four ends. I have a young family, I work fulltime as an engineer, and I pastor a church (www.lifeandlegacy.church). I try to stretch life as much as I can. But… I’ve learned that I’ve got to play.

So my point is, rest, relaxation, fun, festivals, eating too much at a family gathering and so on are critical parts of us being healthy and productive people. But do too much of that (like every day) and you’ll be broke and have no purpose. But that’s another topic for another day.

We are reminded every day that we are finite. Most of us are not functional without sleep. I’m useless without at least 7 hours.

I’m a pastor so I’m going to refer to an offer from Jesus – fitting for Christmas.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28 NIV

I think it is appropriate that in celebrating the birth of Jesus, Christmas is full of fun and holidays. It’s partly why Jesus came – to take us back to a lifestyle of rest.

So on that note, my family and I wish you a very merry, restful, fun-filled Christmas!

Be blessed.

Kim and his wife Bethany are the Senior Pastors of Life & Legacy Church at Hillcrest.