Thursday evening, I soaked my feet in warm water

At six-thirty on Thursday evening, I took off my shoes the moment I stepped through the front door. After a whole day on the move, the tops of my feet were swollen and tight. When I pulled off my socks, red marks stood out clearly. I tossed my bag onto a dining chair and sat down on the sofa just as I was.

Even sitting, I could not rest. My body was on the sofa, but my eyes kept going to the bag on the table, and the papers I needed to pack for tomorrow and the laundry I had not done kept taking turns in my mind. I picked up the remote and put it down again. I had sat down to rest and seemed to have forgotten how. The motor of the refrigerator sounded louder than usual.

Then my eyes landed on the blue basin standing by the bathroom door. I had bought it last winter, used it once, and forgotten it. Without thinking much, I carried it over and turned on the tap. The sound of water hitting the bottom of the basin went on longer than I expected. While I adjusted the temperature with my fingertips, steam slowly began to rise.

The way to a place fit for resting

Before carrying the full basin to the living room, I opened still().

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

Psalm 23:2 (WEB)

"Still waters." It read to me as if even resting had a place of its own. Before trying hard to be good at resting, maybe there has to be a place where the body can ease first, I thought. I had been trying to rest without any place to rest in.

I sat on a chair in front of the basin and lowered my feet in. When the water rose to my ankles, my shoulders were the first to drop. While warmth spread between my toes, the bag on the table and the papers drifted a little farther away. I sat there for about ten minutes, until the water turned lukewarm. The laundry could wait until after. When I dried my feet with a towel, I saw that the red marks on the tops of my feet had almost disappeared.

Today's breath — Before resting, make a place where your body can rest. A basin to soak your feet in is enough.