What's the Coffee; What's the Cup?

My friend Mandy shared the following video with me, and I thought it was a great reminder of how life is meant to be savored. Watch it!




My favorite part is where it says:
Live simply.
Speak kindly.
Care deeply.
Love generously.
Sometimes when we do that, like with hot coffee, we will get burnt. Our family has experienced that this week. I pray that we will continue to savor life and to care deeply and love generously.

What's your favorite line in the movie?

Resurrecting Your Sabbath

If you haven't read the post from Monday, May 10, you probably want to do that first because today is a continuation of the article started there by Keri Wyatt Kent on Creating a Sabbath Habit. Monday's blog had the intro and the first two steps. Did you do them? Just remember that saying "No" isn't just so we can free up more time for our TV or our favorite book or sports—in fact, those might be some of the things we need to say "No" to—but to free up time to live at the rhythm of life designed by God.

Here is part two of Keri's article (the final 4 steps will appear later this week):

I Just Need a Rest: 10 Steps to Creating a Sabbath Habit (PART II)

By Keri Wyatt Kent

3. Delegate. Running a household is a full-time job. Moms who shoulder all of the work of a home by themselves are bound to feel resentment, but also will have trouble taking a day off because there is too much for them to do, especially if they do anything outside of the home (a job, volunteering, caring for an aging parent). If your children can reach the buttons on the washing machine, they should be doing their own laundry. By about third grade, they can pack their own lunches. Get a chore chart and make sure everyone in the house helps with dusting, vacuuming, mopping, dishes and so on. Delegating household chores will allow everyone the time to rest one day a week.

4. Do a little planning. Some of us are naturally planners, others are more spontaneous. But in order to have a day of rest (in which you can be totally spontaneous) you have to plan ahead. Before Sunday, get the grocery shopping and household chores done (with help from your family!!). Make enough for dinner on Friday and Saturday that you can eat leftovers on Sunday, or stock up on frozen pizza! Clean the house the day before. But if you don’t get everything done, let it go. Just stop, whether you’re fully prepared or not.

5. Make worship the focus. If we make Sabbath only about us and our need for rest and rejuvenation, we won’t sustain the practice. While Sabbath is a gift, it’s also a day to focus on God. Plan to attend church (working around kid’s sports schedules if need be). Take time during your 24 hours to be grateful. You can do this in private prayer, or have your family share around the dinner table what they were thankful for during the week.

6. Start small, and build slowly. Don’t go for an extreme makeover of your life. Just choose one thing to refrain from—be it laundry, grocery shopping, checking e-mail. And then choose one thing to engage in—maybe reading an inspiring book or taking a walk with a friend. Over the next several weeks, pick one thing each week to add to your Sabbath, and to subtract. Give yourself as many weeks as it takes to slowly build and refine your Sabbath practice.

Keri Wyatt Kent is a speaker and author of seven books, including Rest: Living In Sabbath Simplicity. For more on Sabbath and her ministry, visit www.SabbathSimplicity.com. 

Resting with a Guest

Les took me away for Mother's Day, not because I'm his mother, obviously, but because he knew I needed to rest away from the Mother's Day hype. Five weeks have not brought enough healing from my grief over Mom's death that I could deal with a day focused on how much we love our moms. Two days in Annapolis brought us much appreciated rest and refreshment, with friends and alone.

God planned our lives to include rest. Therefore, I am going to "rest" for a few blogs here and share with you a wonderful article from Keri Wyatt Kent on creating a Sabbath. I really want you to read it, so I am not going to share the whole thing at once. A few of Keri's 10 steps over the course of the week should give you enough to swallow and work on without being overwhelmed. I hope you'll enjoy it and apply it and come back later this week for more.

I Just Need a Rest: 10 Steps to Creating a Sabbath Habit

By Keri Wyatt Kent

Life sometimes seem to spin past us so fast. Our family, career, church, friends all seem to have needs that can consume us. Our involvements and obligations are not often optional. But there comes a point when it can feel a bit overwhelming. We need a rest.

The God who made us, who designed our bodies and souls, knew that we would not be able to function non-stop 24-7. That’s why when he laid out the rules for life, the best way to live, he told us to rest.

It seem odd that people would have to be commanded to take a day off—until we look in the mirror and realize we don’t obey that command. But just as our bodies need sleep to function, they’re also hard-wired by our creator to need a weekly break. Human beings function best when they take one day out of seven to just stop and rest.

Impossible? Not really. Taking one day a week to rest will actually help you to be more efficient, as well as making you happier and more connected spiritually. How do you get there? One step at a time. Here’s ten steps toward making rest a reality in your life.

1. Assess the current pace of your life: how many things have you said yes to that you should not have? While you cannot off-load your job or your children (as tempting as that may be), are there extra things you have volunteered for that you should not have? If you are a mom, have you signed your kids up for too many activities, so that you spend hours each day driving them around or managing their schedules? Maybe you need to cut back on the things you’re doing during the week, in order to make Sundays a bit less hectic.

2. Say no. We often say “yes” because we think it is the nicer thing to say, or we don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. But every time you say “yes,” you’ve automatically said “no” to other things—and that sometimes includes being able to have a day to rest. Say no by saying things like,  “I’m not the right person for that job” or “Let me check my schedule and get back to you.” But then, say you simply cannot add anything else to your schedule. And don’t let your kids be in five activities just because they want to. Set loving limits so that they have some downtime.

Keri Wyatt Kent is a speaker and author of seven books, including Rest: Living In Sabbath Simplicity. For more on Sabbath and her ministry, visit www.SabbathSimplicity.com.