By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer

Years ago I heard a preacher explain his take on three segments of our waking hours: morning, afternoon, and evening.

“Work two of them,” he said. “Not three.”

He didn’t tout one segment over the others as the one to take off, he simply said to pick two during which you’re the most productive and use the third to recharge.

As an a.m. person, I’m out of the chute before dawn. Morning is when most of my work is accomplished, and I continue strong into the afternoon.

Between five and six, I start winding down. But the  crazy thing is, I have to make myself stop.

There’s so much more I could accomplish if I just pressed on. Then I remember that pastor’s advice, and I stop the work. Not all activity, just the work part of it. The evening is spent reading or researching, enjoying the waning day or a hobby, or maybe watching a movie.

An added benefit is that I sleep better when I’m not grinding at the grist mill all my waking hours. For me, recharging occurs during wakeful rest, not just during exhausted sleep.

Not everyone can follow this advice. Many people work twelve-hour shifts with road-time tacked on to each end. Little down time is left.

Others work two jobs just to make ends meet. And a few of us writer types are frequently on deadline which pushes us into the late-night hours.

But when it’s possible, I relish those few wakeful hours before bedtime when I’m not in overdrive, high-productivity mode.

They’re a good time to take a walk. Read a book. Play with the children or visit a friend. Drink in the beauty of God’s creation. Rest—with eyes open.

I hope you can try it. It’s surprisingly refreshing.

It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones. Psalm 127:2 

~~~

The promised peace settled upon him like a warm cloak. Outside the wind beat against the livery, and the building groaned in the onslaught. He wrapped his arms across his chest and held the book within them. Finally, after months of running, here in a barn, he could rest in God’s expected end. Not what he, Caleb, had expected, but what the Lord had planned.  ~Loving the Horseman

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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.