A Day of Rest
A Day of rest
We love projects. I’m guessing there is a designation for our condition in some medical paper somewhere. Recently, however, we realized that our “projects” have become our life. We decided to introduce a new idea into our weekly life. The Sabbath.
What is a Sabbath? Growing up, I would have considered Sunday to be our “Sabbath”, and in concept, there is nothing wrong with that. Honestly, I haven’t done any research at all on what a true “Sabbath” looks like, but for the purposes of this post, a Sabbath is a day set aside for rest and refreshment.
For our current stage of life, Sunday isn’t overly restful. Our normal Sunday starts with church service in the morning, followed by a meal at somebody’s house, followed by a short afternoon at home, followed by either another church service in the evening or another meal at somebody else’s house. Throw two young kids into the mix, and you’ve got a full day’s work.
Don’t misunderstand… I don’t think there is anything wrong with a full Sunday! As a Christian, I believe connecting with my local group of believers is one of the most important things we can do, and Sunday is undoubtedly the best day of the week to do that. Honestly, most of the pushback to busy Sundays that I hear seems to overlook the importance of getting together with believers altogether, but that’s a whole different can of worms (and we ain’t opening it any further:).
Our solution to feeling overwhelmed due to our busy life has been a Sabbath in our week. The actual day of the week varies because our schedule is pretty flexible and we don’t quite get it done every single week.
Our weekday Sabbath loosely resembles a Jewish Shabbat. We start the evening before by getting into Shabbat mode. We don’t do the actual Jewish rituals of being one hundred percent electronics free and all the other things, but we go into a rest/family first mode. Our goal during the next 24 hours or so is to rest and enjoy our small family to it’s fullest. We typically go to bed a bit later than normal and don’t set an alarm. (There’s no chance we actually sleep late thanks to our kids.) Our morning is super relaxed and we usually eat a pretty big brunch. The rest of the day is just focused on doing something refreshing and relaxing with the children. We usually have a relaxed evening that includes a walk or some activity like a small game to keep the children occupied.
We aren’t anywhere near experts in taking a Sabbath but here are a few tips to get you started.
Start with a general plan in mind, but don’t be tied to it.
Neglect your phone as much as possible. (Or throw it over a cliff if it’s too tempting)
Places that our children love are libraries and parks. Coffee shops are also great.
Go out for a late sit-down lunch after a morning at a park, if you enjoy that kind of thing.
Switch it up, not every Sabbath needs to look the same.
If you have children, don’t just sit on your recliner at home all day. You don’t need to leave the house, but do some family oriented activity.
Focus on the good things that you have been blessed with.
Rest.
I’ve been amazed at the difference that one day a week can have on our outlook on life. It’s good for your marriage, for your kids, and for your spiritual health.
DO IT!
THIS WEEK!
A great inspiration if you want read more about this type of subject is The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. Find it here- https://amzn.to/3LwLsGB
