Our guest podcaster today is Eryn Lynum, a certified Master Naturalist, educator, and national speaker. Eryn hosts the popular podcast for families, Nat Theo: Nature Lessons Rooted in the Bible. She is the author of three books including The Nature of Rest: What the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living, Rooted In Wonder, and 936 Pennies. She lives in Northern Colorado with her husband, Grayson, and their four children, whom they homeschool. Every opportunity she gets, she is out exploring God’s creation.
My ears fill with buzzing. Thankfully, it’s not the buzzing of constant demands and activity but rather the rhythmic symphony of honeybees swarming the cherry tree outside our front window. The glass plane is slid open, and from inside I stare down at the young tree’s tender branches, which are dressed in fragrant pink blossoms. The tree is alive with the movement of hundreds of honeybees. Watching closely, I can see soft yellow patches on their legs. My friend, a beekeeper, taught me that these are called pollen baskets. Rightfully named, they are where bees store pollen to carry back to their hive.
I call my children over to see the bees. We watch them go about their constant work, and I think of my own day, heavy with demands. How often,
as a parent, I feel like a busy bee with endless responsibilities and activities. I’m acutely aware that this pause to observe the bees will quickly fold into
another round of requests and needs. The efforts of parenting are ongoing. And yet even these bees at our tree, consumed by their work, rely on
regular rest.
In my studies as a naturalist, I was struck to discover that forager bees—the ones venturing away from the hive to find nectar and honey—perform an intricate dance upon their return to the hive. Theirs is not an eloquent ballroom dance, rhythmic waltz, or playful swing dance but rather an intriguing waggle dance. A honeybee’s waggle dance is a figure-8 flight pattern that scientists believe signals essential messages to the other forager bees. When a bee locates a bountiful source of nectar and pollen, it performs a detailed waggle dance that shows the other bees in which direction the flowers are
located, how far they are, and perhaps even the quality of the nectar and pollen discovered.
I picture the bee’s waggle dance and how accurate it must be to carefully communicate these messages on which the hive relies. An exact dance
helps determine the hive’s success. I consider all the messages I long to convey to my children each day: how deeply they are loved, their identity in Christ, and the truth of God’s Word. There are countless important messages I want to tuck into their hearts and minds over these childhood years, but it takes precision, like a bee performing its waggle dance. And like an exhausted dancer tripping over their feet, a bee cannot perform its waggle dance correctly if it doesn’t have the opportunity to rest.
I, too, need rest to turn my busy work into fruitful work and to convey truthful messages to my children amidst a society that is feeding them lies.
I can deliver these messages to them to the extent that I learn to rest in Christ. In Mark 6, as Jesus’s disciples came to him weary after a busy season of
ministry, Jesus offered them this invitation in verse 31, “…Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Jesus offers the same invitation to me and every weary parent. We can step away from the hustle, hurry, and noise and spend a moment or ten with Jesus. We can remain in God’s restful presence throughout our days so that as we go about our busy work, the fruit of that work is abundant and lasting.
In John 15:16, Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last…” We
were never meant to produce temporary or rotting fruit but instead to shift eternity with our work of parenting and to produce everlasting dividends.
I watch the bees at our tree as they visit flower after flower, packing their pollen baskets to the brim before flying heavily laden back to the hive. I imagine them resting tonight, huddled together in the hive. A bee doesn’t lay awake at night worrying about what did not get done or feeling overwhelmed by tomorrow’s workload. Instead, it rests by design.
God created every creature and each person to live and thrive in a beautiful harmony of work and rest. In this truth, I break free from the hustle of a
busy bee life and step back into God’s life-giving patterns of rest.
Learn more about Eryn and her adventures at ErynLynum.com.
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