Empty Spaces

I just spent a week at home with my 16-year-old daughter.

Because our family needed to divide and conquer, the other half of the family went out of town, and I stayed back with her.

And we had nothing on the calendar.

Nothing we had to do.
Nowhere we had to be.
No schedule to keep.
No big plans to execute.

At first, it felt strange.

Most of my vacations are timed out, planned out, and mapped out. They often include long drives, full days, and activities already placed carefully on the vacation schedule.

But God had different plans for my second week of summer vacation away from the church office.

Nothing on the calendar.

I am not sure how that sounds to your soul, but to my busy, productive, Enneagram 9-connected-to-3 self, it was hard to slow down. It was hard to simply have nothing to do.

And yet, at the end of the week, as I write this, I can honestly say it was a gift.

It was a gift to stop.
To be.
To make up the day as we went.
To take a nap.
To watch a show.
To play impromptu volleyball with my daughter.
To let the idea of “nothing on the calendar” take over for a week.

Sometimes grace looks like rest.

Sometimes God’s good gift is not one more thing to accomplish, but a quiet invitation to receive the life already in front of us.

So PAUSE right now.

No agenda.
No hurry.
No need to produce anything.

Just be still right where you are.

Take five minutes today to enjoy being with God. Ponder His grace over your life. Sit in silence before His presence.

Let these words sink over you, read them slowly a few times:
In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. (Isaiah 30:15)

This week, I had to trust in the quietness of my calendar that God would meet me. And meet me, he did.

Now, think about your day and the week ahead.

Where might God be inviting you to carve out a few hours, or maybe even a full day, with nothing on the calendar?

Put it on the calendar — but block it out as time with nothing you must do.

Sit. Go. Be. Relax. Ride a bike. Hike. Swim. Read. Ponder Psalm 23. Ask someone you love what they would like to do. Play a game with your kid. Take another nap.

So pause a little longer.

Breathe in the grace of God.

Look at the day in front of you, not as something to manage, but as something to receive.

And maybe the next time you see an empty space on the calendar, don’t rush to fill it.

Let it stay empty.

Let it become holy.

Let it remind you that sometimes one of God’s greatest gifts is nothing on the calendar.