we! were! made! to! rest!

(in Him!!!!!)

Happy Sunday, sweet friends! And happy February 1st! It is the perfect day to reset, rest, and romanticize the sweet month ahead 💌

If you are located in the part of the world that got snowed in this past weekend, then maybe your start to the month was extra cozy!

This is the lovely spot I spent nearly the entirety of my “snowed-in” sabbath.

I originally planned to write a January Lessons Recap or maybe even a How We’re Romanticizing February guide. However, after the last 24 hours of being unexpectedly “stuck” inside, I felt prompted to share something else.

I mean, I have had a lot of time to just “be” today. Days like today, are days I cherish most and honestly, the days I feel most connected to Jesus.

see where I might be going with this?

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I saw this note earlier by sarah harlan 💌 that pin points exactly how I feel each time I am snowed in.

then there is this text I sent to my best friend, saying the same thing only way less poetic…

Nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
And the real kicker - no guilt about it!

As Harlan said so beautifully, “I can truly breathe. No missing out. No guilt in slowing down—because everyone is doing it with me.”

Why is this though? Why does it take snow for us to feel allowed to rest? Why can’t we freely slow down on a normal day, without feeling the guilt and pressure of the fast moving world we live in?

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If we haven’t been properly introduced, Hi, I’m Raylee - a recovering “restless-aholic” who moved to a coastal town to learn how to slow her life down and walk at the pace of the Good Shepherd.

I’ve tried a lot of things in pursuit of rest.
Cooking more. Daily walks. Prioritizing Sabbath. Even hibernating for months -refusing to do what I do best, which is filling my schedule to the brim.

But I still felt like I wasn’t “getting it.” No matter what I did, I still felt as thought my thoughts were going a million miles a second and my heart was beating a rhythm I couldn’t keep up with.

Then in early December, I read a quote from St. Augustine that shifted everything:

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” (St. Augustine, Confessions)

And suddenly it clicked.

Our hearts aren’t restless because we’re doing too much.
They’re restless because we’re resting in the wrong place.

Hibernating for months, daily walks, and a less crowded schedule helped - but they didn’t fully heal the restlessness. My calendar slowed down, but my mind and heart still couldn’t keep up with the pace I was so desperately craving.

That’s when I realized rest doesn’t only come from better self-discipline, but by releasing self-sufficiency altogether and trusting His sovereignty instead.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28–30, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Obedience and stewardship don’t come from striving harder, but rather from believing the truth that while our decisions matter, we have a good Father who is sovereign over every detail.

I think we often assume rest will come once everything is figured out. Or at least, I catch myself feeling as though life slows down, once answers are clear, once the calendar is empty. But rest comes from trust, and “trust doesn’t grow from seeing everything clearly; it grows from knowing the One we are trusting (Overflow Creative).”

True rest, I’m learning, isn’t found in perfectly executed routines.
It’s found in abiding.
when we stop striving to carry what was never ours to hold.

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Today, as snow fell outside, I picked up the #1 book on my book list: Be Good to Your Body by Jordan Lee Dooley, which is a book I believe everyone should read (you can have my copy if you want!!)

It is about getting back to God’s original design for health in a world filled with conflicting health advice. (I know right, sick!)

And in this book, one of the main themes it talks about is - you guessed it - rest!

Hmmmm…a health book on rest…interesting….

In one of the chapters, Dooley walks through seven ways we were intended to live, according to God’s original design. Not as rules to perfect - but as rhythms to return to.

And reading them today, in the stillness, felt like a breathe of fresh, snow filled air.

7 PRINCIPALS FOR BEING GOOD TO YOUR BODY.

1. Honoring our femininity and biological needs
God created us embodied and intentional - male and female, finite and human (Genesis 1:27). We were never meant to overwork our limits!

2. Cultivating healthy environments
“Be fruitful” wasn’t a suggestion - it was a calling! We were designed to contribute to flourishing, to bring life where we are planted.

3. Nourishing our bodies with real, whole food
God gave us good things from the earth to sustain us (Genesis 1:29; 9:3). Food was meant to nourish!

4. Slowing down and resting regularly
God created rhythms of light and dark, work and rest (Genesis 1:5; 2:2). Rhythms so intentional they regulate our energy and hormones. (we can get more into that in a later writes!)
When God created man, He rested. And when He became man, He rested!
If we are to be image-bearers, rest isn’t optional - it’s essential!

5. Spending time in nature
God placed us in a garden, not a office or city (Genesis 2:15). We were designed to move, to breathe fresh air, to receive sunlight, to do meaningful work with our hands and bodies!

6. Living in community
“It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). God Himself exists in perfect relationship - the Holy Trinity, 3 in 1. Jesus walked with others, broke bread with them, and came to mend the relationship sin had separated!

7. Living life fully
Jesus tells us He came so we may have life - and have it abundantly (John 10). Striving for control or perfection in a broken world only leads to exhaustion. A joyful heart is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22). Joy is good for you!!!!

From the very beginning, Scripture shows us a God who designs with intention.
He created us embodied and human. He gave us real food. He built rhythms of work and rest. He declared community essential. And He invites us not just to survive this life, but to live it fully!!!!!

Genesis 3 reminds us that striving for control in a broken world doesn’t lead to freedom - it leads to fracture. When we aim for utopia on this side of eternity, we often end up exhausted and disappointed. But surrender, the kind that trusts God with outcomes, opens the door to peace - true rest.

We are temples of the Holy Spirit - places God chooses to dwell. And stewardship of that temple was never meant to feel heavy.

It looks surprisingly simple:
Rest regularly.
Eat real food.
Spend time in nature.
Move your body.
Be with people.
Live fully.

Scripture is not meant to burden us with rules and routines, but invite us into rhythms that give rest to our soul.

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Today, I did so many things I delight in - a true Sabbath!
A snowy walk. A homemade breakfast. Reading. Napping. Calling my little sister. Writing this. No noise. Nothing demanding my attention.

And honestly?
It felt like I lived the way He intended, slow & unhurried.

Now, I do not have this figured out by any means. This restful rhythm really only clicks on snow days or off days - I’m still learning how to live this way on 9-5 days. Heck, I’m figuring this all out as I write!

But what I do know is that our souls are desperate for this kind of slowing - the kind snow gives us “once or twice a winter.” No FOMO. No plans. No pressure. No noise. Just permission to be still!

So this February, instead of a perfectly curated plan on how to romanticize the month…

Let your restless soul first rest in Him.

Let time with Him be the first thing you do each morning, and watch how it changes the pace of your heart.

Let Scripture be less about information and more about invitation —
an invitation to sit. To listen. To be loved.

I would love - like, love-love - if you challenged yourself to spend just 30 minutes each morning with Him. No agenda!! No hurry!! Just His presence.

(and get back to me on how that works out for ya!)

It is the month of love after all - and He is our first and greatest love!

February doesn’t need more effort.
It simply needs more rest.

And we were made for it! In Him!!!!

Read “Be Good to Your Body” here !!!