Sabbath

A few months ago I was reading an article online about Prince Williams engagement to Kate Middleton. About halfway through the article, I realized that I had been reading the whole thing with a British accent. Weird, huh? The even stranger thing was, I couldn't stop.

Have you ever had that? When what you are reading changes the tone of how you read it?
(or am I just really strange? you don't have to answer that.)

I actually had this recently with a book I read. The book is called Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight In Our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller. Every time I picked the book up, this amazing rest came over me. I felt so relaxed. A calm feeling came over me. I entered into a time of Sabbath.

I'm not sure if you have ever heard of Bloom. Bloom is an online book club started by Angie Smith and Jessica Turner. You can now find them over at (in) courage. Although I have never participated in their book club, I have read 3 of their 4 selections and even wrote reviews on a couple of them. On a side note, I am so excited about their 5th selection and can't wait to order it!  One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. If that sounds familiar, it's because her blog is that one that started me on my gratitude list. (Do you think I can get anymore links in this paragraph? if you actually clicked on all of them, you have too much time on your hands!)

When they first posted about the book Sabbath, they had described it as life changing. As a busy mom that always has my long "to do" lists, I was very excited to order it and couldn't wait to read it!

Although, I didn't find it as life-changing as they did, I did really enjoy it. First, for the reason that I described earlier. I just felt rested and relaxed as I read it. I also really enjoyed some of his practical tips and lastly, it was just a good reminder to slow down.

One thing I did find odd about the book was that he kept mentioning different religions. I'm not really sure why he did this but I just learned to skim over it.

I know many of you who read my blog have different views on the Sabbath and I'm not going to debate the issue nor give my view on it. Wayne takes it from the perspective of Sabbath time can be an afternoon, an hour, or a day. As busy moms, I think it is safe to say taking a Sabbath is hard at anytime. We are on the clock 7 days a week, there is always something that needs to be picked up and someone who needs to fed. We need to take time out to rest. God made us this way. So, no matter what your view is, Sabbath is a necessity.

I want to share with you a few quotes from the book that really spoke to me.

Sabbath requires surrender. If we only stop when we are finished with all our work, we will never stop--because our work is never completely done. With every accomplishment there arises a new responsibility. Every swept floor invites another sweeping, every child bathed invites another bathing. When all life moves in such cycles, what is ever finished? The sun goes round, the moon goes round, the tides and seasons go round, people are born and die, and when are we finished? If we refuse rest until we are finished, we will never rest until we die. Sabbath dissolves the artificial urgency of our days, because it liberates us from the need to be finished.
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In our spiritual life we need to listen to the God who constantly speaks but whom we seldom hear in our hurried deafness.
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If we surrender fully into Sabbath time, we can slowly move from a life so filled with noisy worries that we are deaf to the gifts and blessings of our life, to a life in which we can listen to God....who seeks to guide and teach us.