Rest ≠ Idleness

Not a 9-to-5 Job

As a stay-at-home mom, it can be really hard to think about balance in the work of the home because we don’t have a boss. We don't have a 9-to-5 job, so we don’t really have a beginning to our day and an end to our day. And we don’t have anyone telling us what we need to get done in a given day. In a lot of ways, we are our own boss.

Sometimes we are our worst boss, and sometimes we are our best boss.

And sometimes we are our worst boss, and sometimes we are our best boss. The life of the work at home ebbs and flows, so there are seasons of life where you have more down time, and there are seasons of life when you don't.

The struggle in the down time is that it can quickly become idleness. It can quickly move from simple rest to just doing nothing because we feel like we deserve it or feeling like, “I've worked hard enough today, so I can binge watch a show on Netflix.”

And there’s nothing wrong with watching Netflix because everybody needs a break sometimes. People get lunch breaks and vacation days at the office, and stay-at-home moms don’t have those regular breaks built into our lives.

But we were created to work; we were created for good work. And we were created to be productive and fruitful. And so sometimes, because we don’t have a boss telling us what to do, we can easily forget the very good things that we’re called to, whether it’s spending time in the Word, doing the dishes, or taking care of someone who needs something. We can easily descend into idleness because we feel like we’ve earned it.

In all of this, we just need to check if we’re idolizing our work and maybe working too much, or if we’re descending into idleness.

Glory in the Ordinary

Courtney Reissig

This book combats misunderstandings about the value of at-home work to help moms see how Christ infuses glorious meaning and significance into every facet of ordinary life.

There’s a time for everything. There’s a time for resting more than normal, like when you’re in the first trimester of pregnancy or have a new baby. At other times, you’re in a season of life when your kids are older and are sleeping better, and you can do more things.

So identify those seasons of your life and don’t do more or less than you should.

Courtney Reissig is a wife, mother, and writer. She has written for numerous Christian publications including the Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, and the CT Women blog. She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, with her husband, Daniel, and their four sons.

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