Overdue Me Time

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Cor. 6:19-20

  My body is full of coffee, donuts, and whatever meal I can whip together for a family of five before we have to get off to a meeting or practice.  It seems as though I have forgotten about this ‘temple’ of mine and have placed others’ needs before mine.  After all, isn’t that the definition of parenthood?   We take our kids to their yearly doctor appointments or at the slightest notion of sickness. We stay up late and then get up early the next day to be sure all is in order and going smoothly for the family. We taxi our little one’s around to practices and organizations to give them the opportunities we may not have had. We scramble to plan and then scramble some more as somehow the can of beans we swear we bought has disappeared that we needed for tonight’s dinner.   We are constantly taking care and managing our families – which is a blessing as we do so to serve our God – but we often forget about taking care of ourselves in the mean time.   When is the last time you’ve sat down, read a book that didn’t have pictures, actually tasted your food, or even gave yourself (gasp) a nap?!   We, too, need to be taken care of as we are also gifts from God.   I did this the other day; I somehow managed to take a day off of my work to schedule every doctor’s appointment possible, enjoy a Starbuck coffee, cash in a Groupon 60 minute massage and squeeze in a last minute (and much needed) pedicure. Although it was action packed and I was exhausted by dinner time – I felt better knowing that I had taken a day to take care of myself. I can’t wait to schedule another day and get that dentist appointment checked off my to do list.   How about you; how do you take the time to care for  your own temple?