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Leading your fai

Happy Eastertide, !

You made it. All the season of Lent. Every day and every service of Holy Week. All the plans for Easter Sunday. You created and cleaned. You prayed. You cooked and prepared. You preached, sang, and led the people. Christ is resurrected! Alleluiah!

Now what? 

Take a nap. 

Seriously. I hope you will.

Today I'm writing with just that one idea to inform and inspire your practice of ministry. A friendly neighborhood reminder to REST. Renewal and restoration after the long and demanding realities of Lent are real needs. I want to urge you to take care of your soul in some deliberate ways. 

Traditionally, Easter Monday was for brandy, cigars and jokes. This year Western churches and Orthodox churches all celebrated Easter on the same Sunday (a rarity). With all that hard work behind you for another year, it's time to take a breath. Here are a few ideas fo help you restore your soul.

Five ideas for Eastertide 
Rest, Laughter, Joy, and Renewal

1. Take a nap.
Visit The Nap Ministry where rest is resistance.

2. Read - just for fun. 

Find out if your local library uses Libby - the library app. When I need a new book of fiction, I turn to the Nobel Prize winning fiction titles or Newbery award winners. 

3. Go night sky gazing. 

April's best meteor showers have returned! Find a dark space away from city lights and enjoy the show!

4. Try coloring. 

Get out your markers or crayons, and download a few of these mandala pages. 

5. Laugh just for the fun of it.

In the spirit of Eastertide, and with true satirical wit, you might try streaming Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”. Or just go with funny animals to get you laughing. 

What are your favorite ways to rest, renew and restore your soul? 

More inspiration to help you 

take a break and rest

A call to rest from the blog, "Caring for Joy" 

Your people in your house, your neighbors, your pets, and yes, your congregation, are all depending on you, I know. Still if you cannot find time for you and you alone, your energy for caring with and for others, will dwindle further. Step beyond any sense of false guilt and find an hour, a half a day, a whole day if you can, when you attend to your weary soul.

A Blessing for Easter Monday from "Easter Blessings"   

O God, we offer up thanks for the good news of love and grace that winds through the Easter story. And we offer our thanks for all the good news tellers who proclaimed the story again this year. Thank you for words and rituals and care and courage and creativity that brought the story of Jesus to life once again this season. And now give us joy and rest and a sense of peace as we continue to practice resurrection in the season ahead. 

Series on Calling 

with Bonnie Miller-McLemore

Through the season of Lent, we have been taking a deep dive together into calling (the good, the troubling, and the surprising) with Dr. Bonnie Miller-McLemore. She's helped us think about conflicted, blocked, and changed callings. She is reading to us from her new book Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies about Calling. And if you've missed any episode, all the links are here. You will be provoked, and I think you will also feel seen, by Bonnie's way of writing about vocation. 

Join me for #FreeWrite Friday!

Part of my vocation these days is to write and accompany writers through individual coaching and by offering space for their work. Every Friday we offer a free hour of writing alongside pastors, chaplains, professors, poets, and writers. You are welcome to join us anytime. Just sign up and you'll get a Thursday night email with your link and some weekly writing inspiration!

We have some exciting news to share. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for all the details. You are going to want to celebrate with us on this one!

Remember, , what you do and who you are matters! I believe in you, and I hope you will let me know how I can support you!

Warmly,

Eileen

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