pj’s and pausing 1

Pyjamas are my favourite. They don’t have to be tartan striped, with a matching button up shirt although I do own a pair just like that. But sometimes they’re just a comfy pair of leggings and a big baggy t-shirt straight from my husband’s drawers, or my favourite $8 black and white striped pair of jersey-knit, ankle hugging pants that made me buy them from Kmart recently.

And I think pyjamas are my favourite because they make me stop. There will be no going out while I’m wearing them. I’m home-bound and that means I’m with my people.
They make me think of the best time of day, when I deliberately turn off a few lights around the house, the kids are fresh and clean and in their pjs too, dinner is often simmering away on the stove and any cosy space I can sit with my feet tucked up is calling my name. This is my pause.
I like to think these days that I am more grace than hustle, more inward than outward, and more no than yes. That I’m not trying to keep up with anyone, I’m just trying to lean in and hear what I need to hear just for me, and do what I need to do, not so that I can proclaim it to the world, but so that I can sit, comfortable in my right here and now.
This doesn’t mean my life is particularly un-busy. In fact, with three kids, full-time uni, and my commitment to my church women’s ministry it has the potential to be crazy.
But I’ve learned to slow down in the midst of it. I’ve learned to grab the quiet minutes in between the rushed working hours to intentionally play, to notice, to rest – and to do these things without guilt.

Last night that meant allowing my tired brain a break from essay writing, to watch an episode of Greys Anatomy in bed with a crochet project I’ve long put on the back burner. With the familiar feeling of soft navy wool in my hands wearing my favourite husband-shirt, and hair top-knotted and a cup of tea by my side it was bliss.
On Saturday it meant taking a break from study to shoot hoops with my son in backyard sunshine, and on Monday night it meant saying a gigantic yes to eat dinner and then drink red wine with old friends until midnight.

Sometimes all it takes to find the stop button for a moment is sticking to the familiar morning routine: turning the coffee machine on, padding around in warm socked feet and putting the clean dishes from the rack away in their cupboards, grinding the beans, sitting down to the familiar worn pages of my favourite journal – all of this before the kids wake up and the hustle of the day begins.
Where do you pause in your day?

We all have things that are screaming at us to hustle, and sometimes it really is all we can do to meet those deadlines, or get dinner on the table for our families, or make it to school pick up on time.
But keep an eye out for the moments you can say a gentle no, sorry, I can’t to, in favour of soul-rest. In favour of play. In favour of filling your bucket before it all leaks out dry.
What unimportant thing really can wait until tomorrow so that you can pause for a moment today?
Praying, my friends, that you find that moment and that it fills you up ready to face all that is ahead of you today.

Love, Em

xx