Alone & a Rest

The house is quiet today. It's empty. Amusing Dad is off at work. The children hopped into their grandparents' RV at the campground this weekend and should return sometime this afternoon. I'm alone.

Funny thing is, without a husband and children around today I find that I'm...still a wife and a mom. I woke up to a house empty of people, but filled with needs. The need for food prompted a trip to the grocery store. The need for clean clothes set me to working on laundry. I made a drive to Amusing Dad's work to take him some things he had forgotten. I fed the girls' fish. There were piles to put away and bills to pay. And so it has gone.

I made only one deviation from my to-do list today. I took a nap. I was thoroughly enjoying my day alone, listening to a lecture on CD from a conference I recently attended. Without the demands of three young girls to distract me, I could let my mind focus on the thoughts that came up. So by mid-afternoon, I was finding myself a bit overwhelmed by all those thoughts. There is never a day where I can entertain more than one deep train of thought and here I'd been riding three or four for some hours now. It drained me.

There is one more thing absent from my house today: busyness. For months now I've run from one activity to the next, prepared for one commitment after the other, worked on one project after another. Last Thursday the final project was complete. My plate is now empty, save for the needs of one husband and three daughters. My to-do list has shrunk to a doable size. My calendar has space for relaxation.

It is no wonder that I needed a rest.