It's hard. It's also hard when you throw in moving, a wedding to plan, and well... you get the point.
But it is SO IMPORTANT!
I'm going out on a limb here, and mostly speaking from personal experience, but I'm thinking that one of the most important spiritual disciplines is keeping the Sabbath... or resting... neither of which I am very good at... even though I recognize the indescribable value in them.
I used to be stellar at keeping my friday off as my down day. Well at least I was for the first 6 months or so that I worked at Crosspointe, but then, something happened, and I can't tell you when or how. Errands started creeping in, as did doctor appts, and well all those lovely things you have to get done M-F between 8 and 5pm. And somehow... friday was filled with chores and not so restful anymore.
A few months back I was reflecting on the Sabbath and wondering how those of the Jewish faith managed to keep it. I mean really, how in the world did they keep from lighting a fire, from cooking, from cleaning... especially back in the day when there wasn't a drive through... and it dawned on me... the fought for it. They worked hard for it.
So this weekend we tried something new. Work like crazy people on Friday and Saturday, so there would be NOTHING left to do on Sunday. I'll admit, Saturday was hard. Doing this meant some adjusting in life. I used to cook two large dinners on Sunday night. We would eat off of both of them all week. This was going to be moved to Saturday. I would also do laundry on sunday. This too had to find a new place in the rhythm of life. Last minute tidy-ing up on Sunday? Also moved...
Saturday is often busy for us, and I wondered if it would work, but we managed. Somehow we managed to fit the yard work in, and well, we were quite behind on a few things, so that took most of the day. Can I say edging? Power washing? Yes... THAT far behind :) There was also this little deal of a car being at the dealership and waiting for answers as to why it was NOT running! In addition I found myself scrubbing some baseboards with a toothbrush... yes I know, poor bro. is starting to realize what he's gotten himself into. At least he understands my fondness of a label maker! Saturday, literally, was spent, almost in its entirety, cooking, cleaning, sorting, filing, unpacking, paying bills, mowing, edging... yada... yada... yada all in anxious anticipation of Sunday.
We fought for it. We fought hard, and we won. We went to church, and after all of the services were finished we came home to an empty task list. The house was clean, the yard work was done, the meals for the week prepped... and we rested. We did nothing. I took a nap, because we all know how much I love sleep, we played a game, we enjoyed each others company, we laughed, and we talked with family on the phone... and we rested.
And it was completely worth it. Honestly folks, words cannot describe how incredibly refreshing it was to have NOTHING to do! Well I'm sure there were some things, but not anything that had to be done TODAY. We felt like new people.
And somehow, while I slept little last night... I feel more refreshed than I have for weeks.
It's worth fighting for people. Trust me. It's worth it.
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