Sabbath part 2

Exodus 31:17

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

¹⁷ This day will always serve as a reminder, both to me and to the Israelites, that I made the heavens and the earth in six days, then on the seventh day I rested and relaxed.

 Matthew 11:25-30

Come to Me and Rest

²⁵ At that moment Jesus said:

My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. ²⁶ Yes, Father, that is what pleased you.
²⁷ My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who truly knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too.
²⁸ If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take the yoke^[f] I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. ³⁰ This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light.

 Those are some wise words!!  Sabbath refers to helping YOU/ME!  It is just like all the other commandments that God spoke to us.  I always used to think don't do this, and don't do that, and blah blah blah.  Just being honest.  I didn't realize the really deep spiritual implications of what God says in His Word.  So glad I am finally learning! 

So the thing is when we don't take Sabbath we hurt ourselves, our families, our friends, our church, our work, and our communities!  Oh I know the office simply can't live without you!  Your children can't live without you!  NO ONE can live without you :).  I know really I get it!  We are self employed, and on commission based work.  Trust me I GET IT!  There are some very lean months for us and sometimes it is real uncomfortable. 

 But there is something you should know as well- When you don't take your Sabbath- your health suffers!  Physical health as well as spiritual health!  It affects how you react, how you process things, your creativity, how you serve others, and how fast you can do your job.  Still think no one can live without you?  Still think you should work 80+ hours a week? 

Well, now there is a problem because if you are taking a hit physically and spiritually because you are not doing what God asks, you aren't relying on Him, and you are CHOOSING to say I don't need God----- then how in the world can you claim to serve Him?  OUCH!!!!!  Yep, me too!  When we don't appreciate what God gives us we will lose it.....  :(  Don't do that!  It is precious!  It is a GIFT from the Lord!

 I have nine kids you say- yep, and they take a LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY!  YES!!!  I am involved with church and if I don't do it no one will.  I home school.  If I don't work even more then we may not make enough money.  YEP- GET IT, DONE IT, LIVING IT!!!!!! 

BUT I CHOOSE TO TRUST JESUS!  If I have trusted Him with everything else......then Lord.....I trust you with my time, with my recreation in you!  I should say I am a work in progress ;).

What does Sabbath look like? 

RENEW- Connecting with God is the MOST IMPORTANT PART!  If you aren't connecting with God there is no point.  So whatever you do this is the essential part.  

REVIEW- What are the things you do that give you joy and excitement?  What are the things that give you more energy?  What are the things that drain you?  What makes you miserable?   What are your time suckers?  **Doesn't mean you can give up all those things that drain you, but is there a way you can do it that would bring you more joy?  Say singing while doing the laundry.  How about memorizing verses while doing household chores?  Maybe try dividing chores differently between those that live with you so you rotate more.  Sometimes just a little break from them gives you new appreciation. 

RESTING- read a book, meditate on a specific scripture, review notes from a Bible study or sermon, live with nothing to do for the hour, the day, the week!!!  NOTHING- NO AGENDA! 

RESTRUCTURE- Do something different.  Make a bucket list of things you want to do!  Start checking them off. Save up and plan something.  Enjoy the planning, the dreaming, and the doing!  Give yourself new goals. 

AMEN!  Allow God to give you new breath!  New joy!  New vision!  New things to concentrate on! 

***Today's photos brought to you by- whip cream given to our family with desert and well you can see what that leads to in our family :).  FUN!

Sabbath Part 1

 Michael's many expressions ;).  He is a riot!  And of course very cute! 

 Today's photos brought to you by Animal Kingdom (mostly) where we went yesterday. 

 This past Sunday our guest speaker Tom Lane from The Gateway church.  He was speaking on the Sabbath!

 A great start is to look at the scriptures to see what they say about the Sabbath.  So I will start with God's 10 Commandments since that is a good place of reference! 

Exodus 20:8-11

New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 Why would we need a Sabbath?  I mean the more we work the more we earn, the more secure our future is, the more we accomplish.  Right?  That is when we got hit with truth!  To reflect rest that our Father took on the 7th day.  Also to reflect OUR DEPENDENCE on God! 

Remember the days before we as a society worked 7 days a week.  All stores were closed on Sundays, late evening shopping didn't exist, and the Black Friday actually started on Friday.  In a time when we didn't feel the need from our boss or ourselves to work 80+ hour weeks.  In a time when we loved to recreate.  A time when it wasn't a competition of who could go the longest without a break! 

 I know there has always been those who felt the need to work all the time well before our society started to really encourage it.  I know there has always been those who pushed themselves really hard- too hard.  Isn't that where Mr. Scrooge came from?  I just noticed so much as I got into the work force myself those who seemed consumed! 

Funny part was it mostly started when we got into the camp ministry!  Yep, the ministry!!!  My fellow camp directors would brag about how long it had been since the last day off they had.  That they did camp "errands" on their day off.  That they rarely ever took a day off- EVER!  That was a "normal" thing for them.  It broke my heart because I loved my coworkers!  We all loved the ministry, and yet there was almost a "shame" in taking time off.  WHY??  That just seemed crazy to me. 

 Now I will admit we all get caught up now and again.  It's true.  That's fine because it happens.  There is never condemnation from me over it.  I remember one time Jason held up a picture of me  when our kiddos were little and said do you just want me to show the kids this, or are you coming home?  Ummm....YEP- Got the point!  On my way NOW! 

 The thing is.....that whole reliance thing.  The whole - trust God with your work, with your life, and WITH YOUR TIME TO REST.  Somehow we get the other parts better than we get the need to rest?  I guess we all think we are super heroes deep down.  Or maybe we love feeling needed!  I know I do! 

 BUT GOD created us for sooo much more!  He created us for relationships, for loving, for caring.... and we can't do that well for our family, for our community, or for our churches if we are so burned out!  If we lead a ministry, or educate our children, or work as a nurse- who will benefit from us taking care of ourselves?  EVERY SINGLE PERSON!!!! 

I have seen it way too often.  Those who look at me sideways when I show them a picture of our children.  Those who tell we are crazy.  While I agree with that I also think Jason and I have done our best (not the greatest and we make mistakes ALL the time) to guard our time. 

 If we had worked all weekend with a retreat group we took time off.  Did we get flack about it- YES!  People said we called you on Monday and no one answered?  Ummm...yep because all 3 of us on staff my husband, myself, and our assistant just got done working 60+ hours this weekend.  We needed down time. 

Do there have to be regulations and rules - yes, but first let's look at more scripture because God never gets things wrong- only us :).

 Isaiah 58:11-14

¹¹ The Lord will always guide you
and provide good things to eat
    when you are in the desert.
He will make you healthy.
You will be like a garden
    that has plenty of water
or like a stream
    that never runs dry.
¹² You will rebuild those houses
    left in ruins for years;
you will be known
as a builder and repairer
    of city walls and streets.

¹³ But first, you must start
respecting the Sabbath
    as a joyful day of worship.
You must stop doing and saying
whatever you please
    on this special day.
¹⁴ Then you will truly enjoy
    knowing the Lord.
He will let you rule
    from the highest mountains
and bless you with the land
of your ancestor Jacob.
    The Lord has spoken!

 They were in the midst of rebuilding!  Rebuilding, and God was saying things about establishing a true fast, give to the poor, honor those who need help, give generously, and TAKE A SABBATH!  What in the world....but God we are working to rebuild.  How can we rebuild if you want us taking breaks? 

 Come to ME!  COME to ME!  Please because I AM ALL YOU NEED!  Those Sabbath days are for you to COME........ 

 If you need to rebuild your life, work on your marriage, reestablish a relationship, need guidance on some big decisions, feel like your world is falling apart- that is the perfect time to seek Sabbath!!!  Once you have established this COMMANDMENT because it is that important then continue keeping the Sabbath because then you will ALWAYS have that lifeline established with God. 

 Oh and the wonderful promises God includes- I LOVE THEM.  Stop saying and doing whatever you please on this special day.  Why?  Because it is dedicated to HIM!  Ohhh...and I love this part too- You will truly enjoy knowing the Lord.  This is my goal!  He will bless you with the land.  The LORD has spoken.  That gets me every time.  In my head I can hear my dad's serious voice (which he rarely used).  Deep voice saying- remember this because it is really important! 

 There is so much more to say....... 

 And so many fun pictures to enjoy, but for now......

 Just enjoy.......

 And I will continue this post.......

 later.......

 Ewww....this is creepy......

This needs to be spread out.  There is just too much to say, and for now I want to just focus on what I already wrote because if you are a blogger you know that sometimes you are preaching to yourself too!  ;)

Good questions to think about- what does Sabbath look like to you? 
What do you enjoy doing on your Sabbath?
What is it about your Sabbath, day/time that makes it special to God and to you? 

Counting Blessings....

 So we have gotten to start a garden!  YEA!!!!  FINALLY - it has been 3 years since we last had a garden.  I think because we knew that our last home was not our permanent home within 6 months of moving in and bringing Michael home.  Then just you know- life etc.  So we are back at gardening again and I love it!!! 

 The kids loved this- I did NOT!  EEWWWWW  that is so gross looking to me. 

 They got to work helping me turn over the soil in our new garden that is 5' wide x 20' long.  That way we don't have to "step through" the garden all the time to pull weeds or get the veggies and fruits.  We are planting- sunflowers (probably not in the actual garden area), cucumbers, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and watermelon.  We also bought a blueberry bush, raspberry bush, and black raspberry bush.  We will see if they take off because right now they are just sticks in the ground ;).

Eventually I want to add another 5'x20' garden as well and add more citrus fruit trees to our yard!!!  I love having the space and it is a great family project :).  Bring on the veggies and fruits!!! 

 I was blessed with a ticket from anonymous to go to our sisterhood night out (at the church).  YEA!!!!!  It was so much fun and I had a great time :).  The money went toward camp scholarships and we brought tons of diapers to bless our Life Care center!  :)  WIN WIN!!!

 Then the next morning we WALKED FOR LIFE!!!  Our family raised $400 for Life Care!!!!  IT WAS A BLESSING FOR US!!!  We support life and the many people it takes to give women a choice.  A Life Care Center that has an office that is specifically for women to get ultrasounds and counsels and supports them in the difficult decisions!

Also healing for women who have made decisions that they never told anyone about and are still grieving!  God forgives and LOVES no matter what!  I love that truth!!!! 

 Later that day it stormed as in monsoon type craziness.....but Jason and I persisted on our night out.  We went - here to the England Pride shop :).  YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We got some things for fun and it was a great time looking through all the English candies, decor, and fun bits and pieces they had. 

 This was one of our special treats!!!  Lion bar has gooey caramel, crispy cereal, and is AMAZING!!  I love them, but typically you can't get them here. 

 Then we headed to the beach!  It was raining part of the time, but only a sprinkle.  Of course we joked that it was like being in England at the beach ;).  Except much warmer!!! 

 Jason and I got some time away to talk for a while......

 Jason was feeling how cold the water was.  Because the only people  in the water were a few Northerners.  How do I know they were Northerners?  Because people from the south do NOT ever swim when it is still chilly out!  When we traveled down from Iowa- no big deal we jumped in no matter what the temp.  Now, ummm.....NO WAY!!!  ;)

 We then ate at Spaghetti Warehouse.  I was only slightly disturbed to see this "old advert sign". 

 Oh yes they did put this in the public restroom ;).  Hilarious!!! 

 We were walking around Ybor City.  This is a very historic part of the Tampa Bay area. 

 To me it was like the "New Orleans" feel with lets see.....every other place was a - tattoo place, pub/bar/club, pizza place, etc.  Definitely a different feel than your average place to be.  Very different and unique.  There were no other shops in the area well except some very iffy places if you know what I mean. 

 So this last Monday after 3 weeks of crowd ratings of 9-10 we went back to Disney!!!! 

 We went to Hollywood Studios. 

 It was a perfect day with cool temps and plenty of fun! 

 Crowds were definitely less!!!  We decided to go to the Beauty and the Beast production they have there.  I was very well done!!! 

 We enjoyed the show

 as you can tell......and then we were told by one of staff members to wait after it was over.  I thought at first it had something to do with the exit for "wheelchairs" kind of thing.  Then we realized it had to do with a special request from "Belle". 

 After waiting a few minutes- they led us up the side to meet Belle!!!! 

 We were the only ones there!!!  Awww....Michael loved it too :). 

 So another blessing unexpected, but very fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

All the princesses in our family with Belle :).

I love unexpected blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sometimes I am completely shocked at the crazy Blessings our family receives, but we are very grateful!!!  Praise God for big and small blessings, for those who chose to care about and for others!  THANK YOU to all those anonymous people in our lives that choose to continue to be a blessing!!!  :)