Despite visiting student churches all around Northern Haiti and Matt preaching many Sundays, we have always considered and clung to Sunday as our Sabbath.
We can get into why we believe Sabbath to both be important to the Lord and a command of His later if you want to.
But with so many visitors, and frankly, so much to do, our Sabbaths the past few years have looked more about doing what we needed or wanted to do--a ginormous catch up day--than about dwelling on HIM and making more room for His voice.
While our crazy travel and speak summers are far from easy, one of the things I really appreciate about our schedule is a clear annual break. There is a new school year, then there is summer and speaking, and then one is finished. Then, we move back into Haiti and start again.
This clear break for a "new" year gives us a chance to spend our summers reflecting. Reflecting on what He has done, where He has worked, how He's been faithful and how we have been faithful. How we have not. Then, reflecting on what He has for the future, on where we need to draw closer to Him, on what we feel He is calling us to do. What we need to stop doing.
This summer, one of the big things we kept coming back to was a need to RE-focus our Sabbath.
Not just how we could make it more restful...but how we could deliberately make it more about Him and about LISTENING for His voice in a busy, crowded, loud life and world.
There are a few things we're still trying to think through and figure out...like a commitment to not do any laundry or major cooking on Sunday (leftovers). But one of the things we KNEW we
Instead of seeing what was going on in the world through Google News, instead of seeing what all our friends are doing through FB, instead of having emails ding through every 20 minutes, instead of seeing what some video or blogger or newsperson had to say, we decided this year to fill all of that space on our Sabbath, instead, asking what GOD had to say. And listening.
And yesterday, it was so much more than even that.
Don't get me wrong: yesterday was a t e r r i b l y hard day.
At 6 am, the power went down, and Matt went to flip on the generator. Generator running, but no power. Long story short, it was a very long, very very hot, very waterless, very frustrating day. In which we had no internet even if we HAD wanted it :) Phone calls didn't help, instruction manuals didn't help, and looming in the back of our minds is the very real knowledge that we're working hard to find funds to start a new year...and do not have ONE penny to spend on the electrical system. It was a long, hot, mosquito-y dark night, and this morning finds us sweaty and the inverter smoking.
Not good.
But.
Our commitment to Sabbath without internet was not about having a better day. It was about reaching out to Him and Him alone, and creating time to listen to His voice.
Honestly, until yesterday, I NEVER realized how much WORK I do on Sunday. A million little things throughout the day made me think, "oh, I need to email her!" or "I need to check on that!" or "I need to make sure he remembers to do that"...but suddenly, unable to do so, I realized something profound:
It could wait.
And instead of checking on what you all were doing, when I thought of you, I prayed for you. Which made me realize another profound thing.
God DOES know what you're doing, and can DO something about it. I need to be praying for you more and checking on you less.
Instead of cooking, we had PB&J, and the girls and I played. Instead of doing laundry, we went for a long walk. Instead of blogging or emailing last night, Matt and I watched old Office episodes on dying laptop batteries and laughed together.
And instead of reading more about the Ebola devastation or the Mark Driscoll drama or someone's blog about being a better mom, instead of Matt checking his phone with each incoming email and plopping down to "take care of this real quick," instead of checking Pinterest for a new recipe for endless chicken legs-only...we had a lot of time to read His Word and a lot of time to listen...
To Paul, (I'm still working through 2 Corinthians) to O. Chambers (which was, of course, perfect for yesterday), to our children, to each other, and best, our prayers throughout the day, "Lord, what do you want to say to me?" were never met with nothing.
That was Sabbath One.
It was NOT EASY, and I'm not saying it'll make Sunday a field day for you. But will you try it with us?
Pick one day a week as your Sabbath and pick one major thing (like internet) that regularly consumes a lot of your time and fills your space.
Make uncomfortable, deliberate, quiet space.
And let Him fill it.
I promise you: He will.
Which means that sweaty and smelly or not this morning, I'm starting the week standing as close as I can to our Lord.
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