Finding a Rhythm of Rest
If I asked you when you last truly rested — not just collapsed at the end of a long day, but actually rested in a way that left you more like yourself — would you have an answer?
For a lot of us, rest is the thing we keep meaning to get to. It waits at the end of the list, after everything else is done. And because the list is never really done, rest keeps getting pushed further out. We end up running on empty and wondering why we feel so depleted.
Years ago, when our family was living overseas, some mentors introduced us to a way of thinking about rest that has stayed with us ever since. It reframed rest not as something we earn once everything else is finished, but as something we build intentionally into the rhythm of our lives. The idea was simple, and it came with four easy phrases to remember it by:
Divert daily. Withdraw weekly. Move out monthly. Abandon annually.
We have carried this framework with us through the years and across a lot of different circumstances. It has looked different in different places and different seasons of life — some seasons fuller and more demanding than others. But having these rhythms to come back to has been one of the most sustaining practices in our lives. Let me walk you through what each one means.
The Four Rhythms
Divert Daily
Each day, take a small pocket of time for silence, reflection, and mental rest. This doesn’t have to be long or elaborate. A few quiet minutes with no input — no scrolling, no noise, no problem to solve — just space to breathe and let your mind settle. In a world engineered to keep our attention occupied every waking moment, the simple act of diverting away from the noise for a few minutes a day is genuinely restorative. It is a small thing that, done consistently, makes a real difference.
Withdraw Weekly
Once a week, set aside a longer stretch of time — a kind of Sabbath rest. You can observe this strictly or loosely; in our family, we hold it loosely. The point isn’t a rigid set of rules. The point is to step back from the demands of regular life and spend time doing the things that bring you life, joy, and energy. Not productivity dressed up as leisure, but genuine restoration. It is amazing how much a single intentional day each week can carry you through the rest of it.
Move Out Monthly
At least once a month, get out of the house and go somewhere new. A walk in a place you’ve never been, a hike, an event, an afternoon somewhere that lifts your spirit. Something life-giving that breaks the routine and gives you both a change of scenery and a change of perspective. Our ordinary surroundings, as comfortable as they are, can start to feel small. Stepping outside of them, even briefly, has a way of opening things back up.
Abandon Annually
And then once a year, plan a genuinely restful time away. I want to be clear about what I mean here, because this is where a lot of us go wrong. I don’t mean the kind of vacation that leaves you needing a vacation to recover from it — the jam-packed, go-go-go, Disney-World-intensity kind of trip. Those have their place, but this is something different. This is real rest. Space to slow all the way down, to look back on the year behind you and reflect on the year ahead. Time to take stock, to dream a little, to simply be.
Why It Has Stayed With Us
What I have come to appreciate most about living with these rhythms is that the gift isn’t only in the rest itself. It is also in knowing the rest is coming.
“There is something steadying about knowing that rest is built into the rhythm — that it’s coming, on purpose, again and again.”
When you know that a few quiet minutes are part of your day, that a slower pace is built into your week, that something refreshing is on the calendar this month and a real rest is coming this year — it changes how you carry the hard stretches. The rhythm gives you regular, intentional moments to both look back and look forward. To notice how far you’ve come and to set your eyes on what’s ahead. That forward-and-backward looking, on repeat, has a quietly grounding effect over time.
I’ll be honest: we have never done this perfectly, and there have been seasons where one or more of these rhythms fell away for a while. That is okay. This isn’t a test to pass or another standard to feel behind on. It is simply a framework to return to — a way of remembering that rest matters, and that we can be intentional about it.
Where to Begin
If reading this stirred up an awareness of how depleted you’ve been feeling, I’d gently encourage you not to try to overhaul everything at once. You don’t need to implement all four rhythms tomorrow. Pick just one. Maybe it’s five quiet minutes each morning before the day begins. Maybe it’s reclaiming one afternoon a week for something that brings you joy. Start there, and let it grow from that small place.
Rest is not a reward for finishing everything. It is part of what makes doing everything possible. My hope for you — in whatever season you’re in right now — is that you would find your own rhythm of rest, and that knowing it’s coming would sustain you, the way it has sustained us.
With care,
Sarah
If you’re finding it hard to slow down, or you’d like support in caring for yourself through a difficult season, we’d be glad to walk alongside you. Reach out anytime at sanctuarycw.com or (334) 603-2025.
