Final thoughts on the Sabbath…as I've finished up the book Sabbath Keeping by Lynne Baab. I respond partially to questions she asks at the end of each chapter, to encourage reflection throughout her book.
Some activities which would keep my Sabbath restful could include reading to my kids, reading alone, watching NASCAR with my son/kids, playing outdoors, going to the park with kids…journaling, drawing, sewing, baking…these are all relaxing for me and they encourage gratitude in my heart when I have time to indulge in them. Or in this case, when I make time! These activities often allow my thoughts time to rest on God and His greatness, His mercy, His grace in my life...even as I watch my children laugh and play, I am blessed by their health, by their joy, by my love for them.
In order to prepare for our Sabbath, and to keep it restful for me, I need to have laundry caught up (mostly, at least)…I need to have meal prep started for the Sabbath Day so that there’s minimal kitchen work…and I need to mentally prepare for it by silencing those “to-do” lists that run nonstop inside my head. By starting at sundown, my mind has time to "shift" from the busyness of daily life, to a day of rest. Then, when our Sabbath ends, at sundown the next day, I can have an hour or so that evening to begin preparing for our usual routines to begin again; look over school plans, start a load of laundry...and so on.
I am mulling over possibilities for easy menus; that is, meals I can make on the Sabbath, and also meals that essentially “make themselves” (crockpot and so on)…or, plan out leftovers to have, freezer meals on hand, whatever will work for my family. I enjoy kitchen time, but at a leisurely pace--not--the “everyone-is-home-from-church-and-starving pace. J I need to write and print a list for Sabbath meals, so that I can more easily plan ahead and shop ahead when possible.
I also appreciate the suggestion of lighting a Sabbath candle; will have to think over this. I keep a candle on the table, and we light it for dinner, so I’m not sure how effective it would be for a “separate” candle to be lit on Sabbath--but, perhaps simply leaving a candle lit all afternoon? I love having a tablecloth on our table, too, but we use the table for school daily, so the cloth is inconvenient. Today, I put the cloth on after school (this is Friday) and I plan to keep it on through our weekend, removing it for Monday morning. This signifies a break from school for the weekend, and gives our table a more distinctive appearance for Sabbath.
Lynne Baab asks the question, in her book “Have you ever looked for animal footprints in the woods and tried to follow them?” She goes on to explain that it takes concentration to do it, and uses this illustration to further explain our need for Sabbath. She says “Our lives will be immeasurably richer if we notice God’s footprints in our lives, his fingerprints all over the events of our days. All this noticing takes time.”
I loved that illustration! I used to blog a “thankful Thursday” every week. It became ingrained in me to be looking for things big and small to be grateful for; to find graces in my every day and in special times; to watch for God’s mercy every Thursday. I miss the discipline of my thankful posts and perhaps will return to that at some point. But the habit of gratitude, hasn’t left me; it is weaker sometimes, yet still there. I believe an attitude of thankfulness is important as we go about our daily lives; remembering *not* to take for granted all that we’ve been given, our way of life, our families, and of course, God’s provision in our lives. Sabbath offers a day to reflect on these very things, if we choose to keep the day holy and set apart.
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