For a long time, rest felt like a luxury I couldn’t afford.

When you’re a mom to five, rest is already rare. But when you’ve also been in survival mode – navigating trauma, starting over, rebuilding your life from the ground up – rest becomes something you forget how to do.

Even when the house is quiet and the kids are asleep, my mind can keep running. Did I do enough today? Am I failing them? Will things ever get easier?

Rest isn’t just physical. It’s emotional. It’s spiritual. It’s a quiet kind of trust.

I’m learning that rest doesn’t mean weakness or giving up. It means surrender—laying down the need to control everything and choosing to believe that God is still holding me when I’m not holding it all together.

Some days, rest looks like letting the dishes sit a little longer.
Sometimes it’s journaling for ten minutes instead of scrolling.
Sometimes it’s letting myself cry instead of pretending I’m fine.

And sometimes it’s just whispering, “God, I need You to carry this, because I can’t today.”

If you’re exhausted—not just in your body but in your spirit—I want to remind you: You are allowed to rest.
You are still strong. You are still worthy. And you don’t have to earn your peace.

Even in the chaos, God is inviting you to be still.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28

Take Him up on that offer. Even if all you can do is breathe for a moment.

You’re not lazy. You’re healing.

And that, too, is holy work.