A Summer to Rest

What if this is a Summer to rest? Cultivate beauty and Rest and be Renewed, Beauty tips for tired souls and faces.

Welcome to my Summer Series, featuring essays, poems and podcasts designed to cultivate beauty in your soul, mind, and body. Essays and reflections will be on Mondays, and Podcasts, when ready, will be on Thursdays. Today Join me for Summer Beauty tips for your body, mind, and soul: A Summer to Cultivate Beauty. My fourth tip is “A Summer to Rest: Rest and be Renewed, Beauty tips for tired souls and faces” with a free checklist.

Hi, I’m Deborah, a Christian wife, poet, and writer. My passion is writing about the profound ways God is at work in my life, from the lessons He teaches me to the faith He instills in me. I find His handprints everywhere, giving us glimpses of Heaven to make our days a little easier, kinder, and gentler.

Our bodies, souls, and minds need moments to step away from the hurry of the world, and this will bring so much beauty to us. #Summer #Beauty #Rest

Tweet

A Summer to Rest

Summer invites us to step back for a moment, to rejuvenate, nurture, and reset in rest and reflection. By incorporating rest pauses, which are brief breaks in our daily routines for spiritual and physical renewal, and observing a Sabbath rest day—a day set aside for rest and worship—we can cultivate rest as a divine blessing and a self-care practice.

Rest is an essential beauty tip.

When I worked on movie sets, I often didn’t get enough sleep, nor did my actors, due to our long workdays. It was a hard way to live for me and for the face I was applying makeup to. We’ll address how to freshen up your face when you are tired, lack sleep, or are exhausted, but one of the first ways to ensure our beauty, both inside and out, is to get adequate rest.

Biblically, resting is essential, too. In Genesis 2:2-3 (NKJV), we read: “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

Why did God rest? It wasn’t because He was tired. God rested from all His work that He had created by blessing and sanctifying the seventh day. This was a model for humanity to follow and one of God’s blessings to us.

David Guzik writes, “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: God sanctified the seventh day because it was a gift to man for rest and replenishment, and most of all because the Sabbath is a shadow of the rest available through the person and work of Jesus Christ.”

What is beautiful about this is that every day is a day of rest with Jesus Christ. If we are not resting in Jesus or taking a seventh-day rest, we will find ourselves weary and depleted. This is not how God wired us. Rest is a restorative process, and it is a part of God’s blessing.

My rest pauses in my daily routines this summer include reading fiction and theology books, taking breaks to spend time with friends and family, working on home craft sewing projects, and engaging in long walks. Additionally, my husband and I observe a Sabbath rest day after our six-day workweek. On this day, we refrain from work-related tasks and focus on activities that bring us closer to God and each other, such as attending church, reading the Bible, and spending quality time with our family.

Our bodies, souls, and minds need moments to step away from the hurry of the world, and this will bring so much beauty to us.

Here are some ways to incorporate postures of daily rest pauses and Sabbath day rests. Feel free to use my checklist to help cultivate beauty this summer by resting:

A Summer to Rest: Rest and be Renewed, Beauty tips for tired souls and faces Checklist.

Daily Rest Pauses–

Morning Devotional Time: Find ways to linger in prayer listening to God. Sometimes, while the coffee is brewing, I watch the morning light, pray, and listen. Then, with my cup, I enter my prayer study and begin my devotional time.

Devotional Pauses: Read a short devotional, listen to a praise song, and write in your journal, expressing gratitude.

Walking: Walk in your garden, neighborhood, or over to the park. On my walks, I am the lady you might think is talking to herself, but it’s me and God having a conversation, and it’s an excellent way to take a rest.

Friendship: Call a friend or meet for coffee. There is nothing like good conversation and fellowship to provide a rest pause.

Nap: Sometimes a nap is exactly what you need for a rest pause.

Sabbath Rest Days–

God knew it was good for His creations to rest after working six days and blessed and sanctified the seventh day.

A day of rest from our work regenerates, resets, and strengthens us. We must strike a balance between work and rest for our overall well-being. Rest is not a luxury, but a necessity that we should prioritize in our lives.

Church: Attend church, whether in person or at home. You can also add additional devotionals, watch sermons, or listen to praise songs.

Family Time: Engage with your family at meals, worship, and watching a favorite movie.

Quiet: I always make sure to get a couple of hours of quiet time, either reading poetry, Christian nonfiction, or fiction. I limit my time scrolling through social media. Some use quiet time to paint, sew, or go on a walk.

Reflection: Write in your private journal about reflections, questions for God, praises, concerns, and prayers.

If you’re feeling weary, depleted, chaotic, aggravated, anxious, or depressed, those are signs that say it’s time to rest. When I start feeling any of these ways, I take a rest pause. By taking rest pauses throughout the week, along with a Sabbath rest, I find that I am more emotionally calm, energetic, and focused. That is because:

But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

–Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

The Lord strengthens and sustains us through all that He has called us to do. So rest in and with the Lord and receive His blessing of rest.

…

Now a Beauty Tip for Tired Faces:

1. Take daily rest pauses and Sabbath rest days.
2. Splash cold water with a gentle cleanser on your face. Pat your face dry. For the under-eye area or even the whole face, apply a mask or eye pads. Then apply eye cream. See my recommendations in my Amazon store. These can do wonders, especially when kept refrigerated. Then, use a gentle facial oil or moisturizing cream and massage it gently.
3. Drink a glass of water with lemon in it.
4. Do a 10-minute exercise, such as stretching or walking.
5. Make breakfast with coffee or tea.
6. Devotional time. I do mine first thing in the morning, and sometimes throughout the day if I’m feeling depleted. Prayers of gratitude to God fill us with His peace and comfort, and renew us with His strength.

Do not let the temptation of thinking that rest pauses and Sabbath rest days are a waste of time that could be used in being productive. What you will discover is that you will be much more fruitful when you rest, as it allows your body, mind, and soul to replenish. You won’t be weary and depleted, so rest and be renewed.

Notes:

1. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/genesis/genesis-2.cfm?a=2001

I encourage you to share in the comments about what it means to you for a Summer to Rest. Feel free to use my new PDF Resource A Summer to Rest: Rest and be Renewed, Beauty tips for tired souls and faces Checklist.

Smiles & love, wonderfully made,

Deborah

Let’s Stay In Touch: Subscribe to my newsletter

NOTE: Some content may mention our amazing podcast sponsors or products I love and recommend. As a Sharesale and Amazon affiliate, I may earn a small commission if you purchase through the links I share—at no extra cost! Your support through these purchases helps support my blog and podcast, and I’m so grateful for your involvement in my work.