I am all for some hard work. But I’m also for some rest.

I believe in grinding for your dreams. But I also believe that we are blessed with what we have.

Sometimes I feel like I’m stuck in two different realms. One consists of moving, hustling, working a full time job and then somehow squeezing in time to build this God given path I’ve been put on. Workout, eat right, walk the dogs, do that Bible study, pursue your husband, spend time with your child; spoil her! All these things bring me great happiness. But you know what else brings me joy? Slow living. Saturdays that start with Coffee and Jesus. Little morning smiles from my husband, my daughter, my two pups, and even the cat. When days go by slow and you find yourself catching the time and being pleasantly surprised it is only 3:00 on a Sunday. Gardening. Turning off my phone.

Lots of things brings me joy. Very little brings me anxiety. I thank God for that. But it’s easy to point out those handful of things that make me feel gross. Some of them can be avoided all together, but some of them are inevitable. We all do our best to avoid the painful things in life, and I’d say I have done well with the given circumstances. But sometimes we avoid everything, just to miss the pain. So we miss all those little moments in between that could have been glorious memories.

So my point of this is that the answer of The Grind vs. Slow Easy Living is that you do both. You plan it out. You do your best but your best doesn’t mean doing one or the other. If you’re constantly grinding you will miss out on your family, the love, the deep soulful moments and quickly burn out. But if you’re constantly in Slow Easy Living mode, you’re not fighting on the spiritual battlefield that is life.

There is constantly a spiritual battlefield we are on. In Church this morning, they talked about treating life like a playground vs. battleground. Life isn’t all about having fun and enjoying the moment, there is more to life than face value “happy.” There is a deep purpose built within all of us, but it’s different for each person.

“When we sleep, we are sleeping on a battlefield. Our enemy is not flesh and blood. You may think they are flesh and blood, you may even be putting a name with it, but it is not. It is the Devil. If we try and fight the Devil with flesh and blood, we will fail. But Jesus already overcame the enemy, so when we fight with our armor of God, we win. Offer the other cheek. Face adversity with humility. Love.” – General notes from Southeast Christian Church Sermon 6/16/2019.

The Grind because you know you are in spiritual warfare.

Slow Easy Living because Jesus has already overcome.

Love,

B