I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church in a small town in East Texas. I heard Pastors and Sunday School Teachers teach us to honor the Sabbath all of my life, but to be honest, no one ever really explained what that meant. I don't think it was intentional, I think it was something they just assumed we understood....note, I did not, haha!
So growing up, I understood honoring the Sabbath to mean going to Sunday School and church on Sunday morning and that's what we did. Every Sunday we went to church, we studied the bible, we sang the songs, we fellowshipped with our church family. Then we went home and carried on with our afternoon. We also had a Sunday evening service (you were REALLY committed to the Sabbath if you came on Sunday evenings). After Sunday evening church, I'd rush home and finish the MOUND of homework I still had or project I needed to finish, because I was always an A+ procrastinator. In case you didn't catch it, my Sunday was definitely not a restful day, it was a GOOD day, but it wasn't what you would categorize as restful.
In college, weekends were f-u-l-l to say the least. They were filled with road trips, concerts, movie nights, and various other shenanigans. My sophomore year of college, I started traveling with a Girls Ministry and doing weekend youth ministry retreats at various churches. Sundays were typically spent traveling back home, power napping and then cramming for the week ahead. This cycle continued after college into my early 20s. I was now on staff in the youth ministry at a GREAT church and Sundays were busy. I was there early, typically went to lunch with some of the families after church and then was back for afternoon meetings and evening activities. Let me pause to say EVERYTHING I was doing was amazing and so fulfilling, but definitely not restful.
When I left youth ministry and went into teaching, my weekends somewhat reverted back to my high school days. Busy Saturday, followed by church on Sunday and a busy afternoon trying to catch up on all the things on my list from the week that had not been crossed off. This cycle continued into marriage, until the year that we moved to Colorado.
Let me say again, none of the things I was filling my Sunday with were necessarily bad or wrong...but I can also say that I never went to bed on Sunday night feeling rested and content to face the week ahead.
The year that we moved to Colorado, my husband Sean was in the hospital 8 times. We started this cycle about a week after we moved here (that whole story is a series in itself!). Jack was almost 4 months old at the time. Our regular weekly Sunday routine was non-existent at this point. Thankfully, we found a church that we loved, that offered a Saturday night service and started attending when we were able to.
That season taught me what it truly meant to have a Sabbath. Since we went to church on Saturday night, I was able to take Sunday and just REST. This often meant we stayed in pjs all day watching movies, at other times when Sean was up to it, it meant we went to the park or on a family walk. As I've studied this topic more, I've realized that your Sabbath doesn't necessarily have to be on Sunday and it doesn't even mean you have to stay in your pjs all day - -it should be a day that REFUELS you. In fact, in the Jewish culture, the Sabbath is held from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
As a family, we cherish our Sabbath now. If something out of the ordinary comes up and we don't get that time of rest as a family, I really feel like the week is a lot more stressful. I know that as we enter different seasons of life, we may not always have our Sabbath on Sunday, but we will always make time to set aside one day a week to recharge as a family.
What does your Sabbath look like?
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