Finding Rest

Written By: The Good and the Beautiful Published On: January 20, 2026

Join Jenny Phillips in her new greenhouse as she talks about using free time in ways that can truly give us rest and can even change our lives. Our world is so busy, and it often pushes us to do more and more and to go faster and faster. There is so much anxiety, so many pressures and cares that can weigh us down. What is true rest? And how do we intentionally find it?

This morning I was out in the fields near my home listening to the wheat blow in the wind, feeling the cool morning air. I’ve been picking spearmint in my greenhouse to make spearmint lemon water to drink today, and now I’m replanting this terrarium because the current one isn’t looking so great. These are all common things I do these days, but I didn’t do anything like this a year or two ago. This process to find rest has been huge for me, and I have so much to share. I’m witness to what happens to our mental and physical health when we don’t find rest, and I have been enjoying this journey of better balance and seeking rest.

I am in my greenhouse, which is not quite finished yet. We are almost done creating the shelves. I’m excited to share more with you about what I am doing in this greenhouse. I’ve brought in this terrarium to rework today. It was in our homeschool room this whole past year. I’m doing this today as I talk because caring for houseplants—or making a terrarium—and other calming things were not things I was making time for until this year, when I started seeking more rest in my life.

Selfless Giving

The first thing I wanted to say about rest is that mothers give so much. We help our kids learn new talents, practice those talents, gain gifts, explore the world, and be creative, but often in the process we get out of balance, and we don’t do those things anymore ourselves. I really feel like the sacrifices of motherhood are beautiful and amazing.

To be a present mother, women often find they need to put higher education, personal interests, hobbies, or careers on hold. Everyone is different, but there are huge sacrifices we make to put our children’s needs higher than our own. Those sacrifices are beautiful, but balance is needed in all things. Every day we as mothers can still progress and develop our talents, connect with nature, and gain new interests. These things will actually give us rest from the daily grind and routine.

Finding Time

You might be asking, how can I have time for that? I think too many women are spending time watching other people’s hobbies instead of having their own. We mindlessly scroll through social media watching people paint or cook. Meanwhile, we are not doing these things ourselves. We are watching other people do them. It’s because it takes intentional thought in planning and action to put down our phone and do those things. We might think we are too tired, but watching TV and scrolling through social media are not actually good and true rest for our minds and our spirits.

Years ago, I sat down and calculated what you could do in the same time as it took to scroll through social media for just 25 minutes a day—and that is 153 hours a year. What would you do if you had 153 hours of free time? Can you imagine what you could accomplish if you used those 25 minutes you would have spent on social media each day to improve yourself instead? So, I actually calculated it out: You could read the New Testament three times, read four classic books, read four biographies, play tennis 30 times with your husband, and paint 10 paintings in that same amount of time. All these things offer so much more rest and refreshment and strength than social media, which actually drains us and makes us way more anxious and unhappy.

Alternatives to Scrolling Social Media:

Read scripture
Read good books
Play sports or get active
Paint, craft, or create
And so much more!

Mother on phone scrolling while son plays at the park

We will find more rest by putting down our phones more often and seeing the wonder of the world around us. Are you at the park letting your children play while you are looking at your phone? What are you gaining by being on social media and looking at updates or watching reels? What are you missing by doing that? The beautiful sky, playing with your children, hearing your little children’s voices and laughter. They will not be little that much longer. You’re missing the squirrel up the tree, the wind, the rustling leaves. Whatever you are doing, be engaged in it, not engaged in your phone, and you will find more rest in life.

Social Media Challenge

I want to give you a challenge if you watch TV. I actually used to speak around the world giving this challenge. The stories people told me about how it changed their lives were amazing. Here is the challenge:

For three months, turn off the TV or social media and replace watching other people do things on a screen with doing good and beautiful things yourself. I know what you’re saying: “I’m so tired at the end of the day; I need to wind down; I need to relax.” Yes, you do, but it is important to keep this in mind: People think they need TV to wind down, but studies actually show that watching TV is not an effective way to wind your body down and relax. It does not let your mind relax, and it makes it harder to fall asleep. If you’re not extremely selective about what you watch, much of what is on TV has subtle and not-so-subtle wrong messages and material that will have a negative impact on your spirit and will leave you feeling empty, depressed, confused, and discontented.

There are much better ways to seek leisure and enjoyment, ways that strengthen and inspire your spirit, rather than damaging your spirit and wasting your precious time. Sometimes what we think we need is not what we really need. The things that will really fulfill us and bring us feelings of satisfaction and joy are not usually found through entertainment on a screen.

How to Find Rest

To find real rest and to truly relax, take a walk, write in your journal, play the piano, listen to a good audiobook, read a biography, read something that immerses you in beautiful descriptions and messages, spend time talking with your husband or a close friend, study the Bible, grow herbs, spend time reading scripture and praying, learn to knit, create terrariums, go to bed earlier, write in a gratitude journal, write poetry, or study the details of beautiful art. These kinds of things calm, strengthen, and uplift us.

We have to intentionally decide to turn off or limit social media and TV, and we have to intentionally plan what we are doing with our free time. It’s more than just desiring; it’s intentional planning. I suggest sitting down and writing out a plan, writing down the things you want to bring into your life. It’s easier to read poetry at night if you put a poetry book on your pillow in the morning. It’s easier to look at a book of art during your teatime if you set the art book on the table before teatime. An early-morning walk in nature, like I took today, is not going to happen if you don’t set your alarm and make a plan.

Also, it’s not about needing to add more things into your life or having increased expectations in your life. You don’t need to be learning languages and instruments and reading piles of books. It’s more about replacing wasteful technology with simple, easy things that really fill you and bring you peace and joy. For example, you could listen to classical music while you nurse your baby instead of watching social media reels. You could practice a foreign language 10 minutes a day instead of scrolling through Facebook, if learning a language is meaningful to you. You could cuddle up with an uplifting book instead of watching a sitcom. You could turn off social media for designated parts of the day. You could go on a walk and write in your journal instead of watching a movie. You could sing hymns or listen to the Bible while you wash dishes, instead of watching contentious talk shows.

Alternatives to Social Media

Listen to or play music.
Practice a foreign language.
Read an uplifting book.
Go on a walk.
Write in your journal.
Paint a picture.
Sing hymns.
Listen to the Bible or an audiobook.
Play with your children.
Bake a delicious dessert.
Talk to a friend, your kids, your spouse, or a relative.
Help a neighbor.
And so much more!

I was speaking at an event once and a man came up to me and said something like this: “I met you 10 years ago. You don’t remember me, but I remember you. I took your challenge to turn off the TV and replace it with something better. I used to watch a half-an-hour episode of my favorite show every night before bed to unwind. Instead, I started reading biographies of great men and women for a half an hour each night before bed.”

The man then teared up and told me that it literally changed the course of his life. At first, he said it was hard. He missed his TV shows. But soon reading biographies became something that he thirsted after and that filled him with noble ideas and inspiration and brought peace to him. It truly helped to reduce his stress and anxiety, and it ended up inspiring him to change things in his life. He told me that he was a different man, a different father, and a prominent leader in his community now, all because of that one change.

One Beautiful Life

We have one beautiful life to live. Every day is a gift. There is so much to see and to explore and to experience. There’s so much to become and do and learn in this life, and the beauty of it is that these things fill our souls and increase our talents and our knowledge–and also bring us rest. One other thing to keep in mind is that true rest is best found through Jesus Christ. He said in Matthew 11:28–30, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” As we pray and ponder, He will show us how to use our time to truly do things that bring us rest and relief.