soaking in the selah

This word appears at the end of some of the Psalms, and supposedly, no one is really sure what it means. I love it and have adopted it to mean:

No matter what we believe, who we vote for, or what we look like, we can never let those who are different from us forget how loved and valuable and important they are. (1)

Rest. Praise God and rest. 

I was looking at my Instagram account the other week and noticed it’s a little bit of foodie pictures, a lot of my children, and a WHOLE lot of hustle. But lately, the conversation has changed. What if we celebrated rest, our selah, as much as we glorify the hustle? 

So I have been trying to make space for intentional rest. This weekend, I had the chance to spend time at Dam House South, a sprawling haven on Lake Fort Gibson owned by dear lifelong friends. A friend and I went to press pause, get some work done, and hear ourselves think without the usual background noises. We finished chapters, read whole books, and enjoyed conversation with some of the most generous, relaxing souls in the world.

We got our selah.

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All the praise hands for a marriage in which this works. For a mutual understanding that we return better spouses, parents, and worker bees when we have time for ourselves and our people. We understand that it’s not always practical to press pause on life, but that it’s important to do it as regularly as possible.

No, it’s not always practical to press pause on life for a weekend. But it’s my goal to make space for even fifteen minutes of selah among the hustle:

A glass of wine and a magazine // an episode of Suits with my husband // a scented candle while I work // an inspiring podcast with a pile of vegetables to chop at my leisure // a quiet corner of the house for one curled-up chapter // a minute to close my eyes and listen to a song in the driveway with a sleeping baby in the backseat.

I’m a firm believer that soaking in the selah makes our hustle stronger and our hurry less draining. 

What does selah look like in your life?

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