For all those that say they don’t have time to have a day of rest or sabbath, there is no better time than now to intentionally create a sabbath day for you and your whole family. With the world shut down right now, this is the very best time to set some new healthy rhythms into your typical chaotic and busy schedule.
Sabbath is a gift and it is my favorite day of the whole week. It is the one day, we sleep in. The one day, I ignore the dishes and the laundry and the dust. The work can wait. I do enough of that during the week. This is a day set apart and it is sacred. Last summer, I put together a post full of explaining the importance of honoring the sabbath and some practical tips to incorporate this weekly day of rest in your own life. You can go back and read it here.
“To Hell with the Hustle”
I just finished reading Jefferson Bethke’s book To Hell with the Hustle. It is such a great read and a really great book to add to your list, especially if you are a hustler and struggle incorporating rest and margin into your days.
There was a lot of really insightful wisdom packed into the pages, but the thing that stuck with me the most was actually quite simple: be faithful.
Not just a faithfulness when God is pouring you with blessings upon blessings, but in the seasons of your life that feel more barren and ordinary. This is true faithfulness. A commitment to living your life faithfully to God, your spouse, your kids, your church, your neighbors in the ordinary days.
Bethke puts it best in the epilogue:
“I think we hate faithfulness so much because at its root it’s obscurity and ordinariness, which is the biggest cultural curse we have today. There is a certain paradox in making changes and choices that don’t seem to have obvious benefits. It’ll feel uncomfortable to resist technological advancements. To rethink how we communicate. To question the noise all around us. To not hustle to get ahead, but to rest to be human. The more I root myself in a place, in a job, in mundane repetition of my life with love, the more I find joy springing up all over the place.”
(Bethke 182-183)
I don’t know about you, but my soul feels a peace and joy that has been missing for a while. Don’t get me wrong, there is also a lot of anxiety and uncertainty and fear melted in there, but as a whole, my head feels more clear and my heart feels more open. And I think a large part of it is because the extra noise has paused for a bit.
The morning rush of throwing things into my bag and quickly getting Hudson into his carseat has ceased. There is no pressing timeline. We are home and for the first time in a while, I am truly thankful for the very mundane elements of my day. I am thankful for fresh air outside. I am thankful for the ability to take a long walk with my family.
I am seeing things with a new vision. I see the beauty in the ordinary.
To give you an idea of what I am trying to convey, this is a little glimpse of what sabbath looked like for the Capel fam last Sunday:
Last Sunday’s Sabbath
- Drinking coffee and just watching Hudson play
- Worshipping on the couch
- Watching our pastor teach on the biblical concept of work. Our church’s online sermons can be found here
- Packing a lunch picnic of bread, turkey, cheese, figs, and slices of cara cara oranges
- A drive on an empty 405 freeway
- A beautiful family walk
- Picnic on a big grass field
- Baseball and soccer play with Hudson
- A nap
- Book reading
- Knitting (a new thing. I am trying to make a hat, so far it is a struggle).
- Backyard sunbathing
- Bubble wands
- Lounging in beach chairs while Hudson and Nala entertained each other
- Zooming with dear friends
- Steak on the barbecue
- Apple crisp in the oven
- Scoops of vanilla ice cream
- Dreaming about that Stanford baseball scholarship as we watch Hudson hit on his tee before bed (kidding…kind of).
- Bedtime books, mostly reading Stormy Night on repeat. His current obsession because of the page that says “BOOM!”
- The Sunday Bath. If you don’t do this, oh, you really should. It is one of my favorite sabbath elements.
- A little more knitting
- Time with Lance and talking about what the week ahead looks like
- Sleep
Peace in the Ordinary
I wanted to list all of that out because I wanted to show how ordinary it is. Nothing spectacular, but it was a new favorite day in my book. It was simple and rich and meaningful. This is sabbath to me. A day where the blessings of my life are in full-picture. With perfect clarity and the tender whispers of God, I see with new vision that this is exactly where he wants me. He wants me present with open hands and an open heart for all that he is showing and teaching me through these simple days at home.
So, in the midst of uncertainty and fear as the number of coronavirus cases seem to keep getting higher and higher, I am finding a whole lot of comfort and peace in just focusing on the here and now and leaning into this day of Sabbath that will never be cancelled or taken away from us. It is a gift given to us with open hands by a Father that loves us so dearly.
Will you accept it and step into this sacred place of rest? There is no better time than now.
This Mama Needs Grace 