I know many people with many different views of what taking a Sabbath rest really means. Some of my friends believe that to spend money on Sunday is morally wrong because it is causing others to work. Some other people I know view observing the Sabbath as taking a Sunday afternoon nap. Yet others in my circle treat Sunday the same as any other day of the week. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle of all of these in theory, but in practice I am finding that truly observing the Sabbath has become quite a challenge in this season of my life.
I am living in a season of busyness. I work full time. I have to do my grocery shopping and house cleaning on the weekends. Any time spent with extended family has to happen in the short span of a Saturday and Sunday. There's church to attend and dinners with family. There's kids activities and shepherding group events. And, in the midst of all of this, I am finding the Sabbath rest to be unattainable most weeks. Sundays seem to be the busiest day of all with church, coupon clipping, often grocery shopping, and then church again in the evening. By the time we get home and eat supper, it's after eight and time to get the kids ready for bed after they finish any homework they might have. It's honestly exhausting.
This led to a family discussion this afternoon that began with my simply saying I thought we should turn off our cell phones on Sunday. You would have thought I said a bad word. Only three of the four of us has cell phones, and only two out of those three use them, but one member of the family (who shall remain nameless) seemed shocked by the idea. I had to chuckle as it proved the point that maybe we are too connected. Then ,we started discussing what true Sabbath rest is- a spiritual, emotional, and physical rest from the week behind and in preparation for the week ahead.
We didn't solve anything in our brief discussion (between driving home from lunch and clipping coupons) but it opened the door for more discussion. So I am left with a few questions...
What does a Sabbath rest look like for my family?
Why is it so hard to guard the Sabbath and actually rest?
Are we caught up in a cultural standard of being constantly on the go rather than obeying Scripture?
These are just some of the things I am pondering and praying through. Any suggestions? :)
I've been thinking about this too... weird. Anyway, I think you made several points... 1 is that it is a season. We won't always be this busy with life (serving our young families) on Sundays. 2nd we don't use cell phones that much on Sunday's... mainly to just keep track of each other... but I think that's a great idea. Sunday is hands down the busiest day of our week, but we serve and there is something in serving that does refresh the spirit. I'm interested to hear how further discussion about it goes at your house. :)
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