One of my first blog posts here was about taking a sabbath, but I have to confess that since then, I have gravitated back towards my own way of doing things. I am always well intentioned in setting aside a day of rest, and then it ends up looking a lot like completing random tasks and pretending that it’s restful. I might start off strong with a slow morning, but all of a sudden I’m making lists and crossing things off and running around BJ’s like a madwoman, elbowing people out of the way to get to the sample tables (just kidding about that last part… that’s my husband’s job). Anyway, after reading this post from one of my very favorite bloggers, I was inspired to re-commit!
I am reminded again and again that God commands us to take a sabbath for. our. good. He doesn’t want us to be unproductive or lazy- in fact, just the opposite! He designed us, and He knows that when we take a day to truly rest our bodies/minds/souls, we will be better equipped to walk out our calling during the week.
So yesterday, Josh and I sabbathed. We sabbathed hard.
I love mornings and tend to wake up early by nature, so I caught a beautiful pink sunrise sneaking up over our apartment complex around 7am. It was quiet and lovely- the perfect way to start the day!
Since I am a foodie at heart, I wanted to begin our sabbath with a tasty breakfast. During the week we usually have some combination of eggs, toast, and smoothies, so I wanted something different. Something decadent and buttery and sweet. Cinnamon rolls, it was!
The night before, I prepped this recipe and then on Sunday morning I just popped them in the oven while the coffee was brewing. Heaven on earth, I tell you. They were delicious, but next time I would definitely take the time to make some icing for them. We added a little bit of maple syrup which was just as good.
After cinnamon rolling, we headed to church and heard a great message on the book of Revelation. In the past 4ish years that I’ve been going to church, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone preach on Revelation! As always, our pastor was faithful to convey the Gospel, and I was reminded of the crazy awesome truth that Jesus took our punishment upon Himself so that we could be with God for eternity. A reality like that is hard for me to process, sometimes.
Back at the house we lounged around, read, ate, and played a little game of racquetball.
In the evening, we had Josh’s cousin and wife over for dinner. I made this lentil chili recipe which didn’t feel like work at all because I literally just threw everything into the crockpot and didn’t look at it again until dinner time. My favorite kind of recipe! Also, I just love having people gathered around our little table. We served the chili with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and (homemade!) bread. Dessert was leftover cinnamon rolls, of course.
At the end of the day I felt rested and content. There were a couple times where I had to bat away those anxious feelings that told me I wasn’t being productive with my time, but I know that I need to let God’s voice of grace speak louder than our culture’s voice of more, better, faster. And that’s exactly what happens on a sabbath. It’s a discipline for sure, but one that I want to commit to joyfully, knowing that it honors God and brings peace to my soul.
A Continual Feast 