After many long months it finally happened. Caleb finally used his new dog bed.

Seeing him do so not only made me happy, it got me thinking about rest.

Rest is something that dogs are very good at and that we humans often struggle with.

I learned this the hard way a little over a decade ago when a lack of rest led to some major health issues.

I was fortunate to get the help I needed. One of the big lessons I learned from the ordeal is the importance of rest. Now sleep is a top priority for me.

Perhaps even more importantly, so is finding rest from the things that can get me tied up into knots, such as excessive worry, fear, doubt, obsession, etc.

Some of the main things that give me rest from these issues are running, music, books, friends, fresh air, faith, and last but far from least…dogs!

I’m sure that is partly why it made happy to see Caleb using his new dog bed. It was a nice reminder of the importance of rest and of how dogs provide it to us. Research shows that the blood pressure of many of us goes down when we’re around dogs.

That’s why I do my best every day to give thanks for dogs and the other things that give me rest. And especially for having a God who tells me to “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”