Refresh, Restore, Rejuvenate, and Replenish

Years ago, I heard a teaching on the ways of eagles in comparison to the Christian life by Joyce Meyers.  If you have ever heard a good teaching that you tracked with and found yourself nodding your head or even saying, “Uh huh” or “Amen”, you will relate to how this teaching permeated and resonated within my soul.   

In the teaching, Joyce talked about what eagles do when their wings get heavy with pollution and the gunk of the world causing them to have trouble flying.  When this happens, eagles will fly up to the highest rock they can find and pluck out all their gunk laden feathers one by one.  Once they are essentially bald and naked, they lay on the rock and bask in the sun until their feathers grow back sleek and clean.  You don’t have to dig too deep to see the metaphors and the lesson.

I can relate to the eagle.  Everyone needs a time of plucking and refreshing.  The trick is knowing what you need to do to get refreshed.  For some people, it may be a vacation, weekly church service, a bubble bath, a drive by yourself, working in the garden, time on a boat fishing, or even a walk.  It’s the thing that makes you giddy and the thing that refreshes your soul.  For me, ever since I can remember, it has been laying out in the sun- no music, no electronics, just laying, feeling the warmth of the sun, hearing sounds of creation and feeling a slight refreshing breeze.  Essentially, basking in the sun like the eagle.   Albeit, in the past, I haven’t been naked and bald, but this year I am going bald, not naked.  (I’ll keep my clothes on for everyone’s sake).  Plus, I prefer a comfy lounge chair to a rock.

Basking in the sun is when God

me.  I covet this time.  I get giddy when I see that there’s a day when my calendar is not busy and the weather is optimum to spend a few hours basking in the sun getting refreshed, restored, rejuvenated, and replenished.  It’s easy to tell when I have had these moments because my skins darkens.  You know Jodi’s not in a good place if my skin is too white in the summer.  To be honest, when I go too long without these moments, I get negative, grouchy, and am just kinda muddlin’ through.  That ain’t no way to live.   

In 2023, I only took one day to bask in the sun.  The calendar was too full, thanks to my own doing, and the days I did have available, the weather wasn’t cooperative.  I missed my time of refreshing, restoring, rejuvenating, and replenishing which meant I was letting the cares of the world make me negative, grouchy and I was muddlin’.

A couple of weeks before the October cancer diagnosis, Andy and I were talking about how we hadn’t taken time for our refreshing, restoring, rejuvenating, and replenishing.  We noticed we didn’t laugh as much and the cares of the world were weighing us down.  We decided something had to give with our schedule in 2024 so we could work this important time in.  We just didn’t know what or how to change.

As we drove home from the hospital after my surgery, I asked Andy what he thought about not doing Friday and Saturday lunches on the weekly in 2024.  With health on our minds and 14+ hour days on our feet needing to be kicked to the curb, we decided to explore the idea of giving up weekly lunches.  You see, even though we were only publicly open 2 days a week, the behind the scenes work was more like 60 hours a week with private events, cooking everything from scratch, creating weekly menus, etc. 

With our once-a-month Sunday brunches actually probably being too full (we felt rushed and knew some of our guests felt rushed) we decided to offer them on the weekly to help spread out the availability and thus the crowd making everyone feel more at peace with the logistics like parking, seating, and time to linger.  With adding Sunday brunches to the weekly hours, we decided to do away with weekly lunches instead making public open days more like 8-10 hours on our feet.  Plus, it allows lunch times to be available for private events such as food trailer opportunities, showers, classes, and special events such as teas we have wanted to do for years, but couldn’t figure out how to fit them in. 

Judah had the idea of having Friday lunch once a month, which I think is just perfect.  It allows “our gals” who enjoy coming to the Bee-stro with friends the opportunity to still enjoy that time.  The once a month Friday lunches will be the last Friday of every month with the exception of December, when we will be open every Friday for lunch. 

In the long run, we love what we do.  We want to continue doing it for several years to come, but there’s no purpose in doing it if we are burned-out and stressed because if we are burned-out and stressed, then it keeps us from our big goal- making sure you leave the Bee-stro more at peace than when you came.  I am dead serious about that goal.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, we need to make money to cover expenses and pay bills, but that will come if we do our primary goal of being a place where people can experience peace even if just for an hour’s meal.

My purpose for writing this is two-fold.  One, to let you know the “behind the scenes” of the Bee-stro and our decisions.  It’s another way to be transparent with you.  Two, to encourage you to find what it is that refreshes, restores, rejuvenates, and replenishes you.  We all have cares of the world that weighs down our feathers and keeps us from flying.  That does no one good.  Take the time to refresh, restore, rejuvenate, and replenish.  Breathe deep.  Be inspired, because then you can be the best you and in the process bless others by just being you. 

As for me, I am writing this from Dunedin, Florida.  Dr. and Sheila Leach were gracious to offer us their condo for a week.  They were gracious because God has been gracious and has blessed them.    When they offered their condo to us, they had no idea how much they were blessing Andy and me.  I have been  basking in the sun with my naked bald head getting refreshed, restored, rejuvenated, and replenished.  I may look like a bald eagle, but I feel my feathers growing back.  Thanks to Doc & Sheila, I have already had more days  basking in the sun in 2024 than I did in 2023.  Creative juices are flowing and I am being inspired.   I truly hope you take the time, too, in order to be refreshed, restored, rejuvenated, and replenished.  You need it.  And the world needs you to take it.

Blessings,

Jodi