"He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food."

- Job 36:16

July 15th, 2024

Dear friends,

There's something magical about living in the forest surrounded by the flora and fauna of God's creation. Everything here moves at a pace so much slower than the hustle and bustle of the city, and one week in, my body is slowly attuning to my surroundings.

My nervous system is adjusting to the slowness, and I am learning to unload the pressures and sense of urgency that my body felt throughout the many months of our move. I am exploring softness and safety, releasing the tension and self-regulating into the slower pace that exists all around me in this forest.

I'm so grateful for all the somatic healing practices that have increased my self-awareness of my body and how it reacts to change. I'm slowly feeling the release of tension in my muscle fibers and becoming more aware of the physical tiredness I had to push through over the last few months.

Once we start to feel safe and calm in our bodies, especially after a long season of stress, feeling tired is a natural response of the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) acting like a brake, calming our bodies down after the perceived danger has passed. In doing so, we become more aware of the tiredness in our bodies that we've been experiencing all along and denying.

I love this quote from @thedailyrest, "to rest is not to withdraw from your life completely, but to participate in it fully, deeply, wildly... to rest is to untangle your worth from your actions... to rest is to begin a real dialogue with your body instead of speaking over her at every turn."

That's precisely where I find myself today, feeling tired and needing His unhurried rest.

Soaking in these mountains' beauty is helping me see God's hand in all of this. I've been too busy for too long, living in my head in survival mode, and this is the hard reset I need so badly. God knew that Scott and I would need a season of rest and refilling before we fly off on our global adventure— A season to remember how to live life to the full, present in the present moment with Him, not living so much in our busy minds,  being instead of doing.

He led us into this spacious life surrounded by the wisdom of nature, free from so many of the burdens previously weighing us down, wooing our hearts to live in step with His pace of grace. I'm excited about what God is doing right now and so grateful for the opportunity to share with you.

All for His glory in all ways and all things,

Jennifer

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