Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: Chapter 8

This chapter was about observing the Sabbath, something I am not fantastic at. It also discusses something called the daily office, which is a new concept for me. The daily office is the idea of stopping several times throughout your day, anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes to pray or be with the Lord. It can be very formal or as simple as stepping outside to get a breath of fresh air. I like this idea and am going to work to incorporate it into my day.

The Sabbath! I remember in college thinking, I am going to be so much better at observing the Sabbath when I am not in school and do not have homework to do. Then I started working at architecture firms, where my Sundays (the day I choose to celebrate the Sabbath) were often spent in the office, catching up on work for Monday. Now my Sundays pretty much consist of church, then errands, errands, errands, with an occasional home project...not exactly refreshing and recharging. I'm not in school. I work for myself. Where did all of my anticipated "free time" go? I know one thing, if I spent half as much time reading my bible as I do on the Internet, I would be a biblical scholar by now.

What it comes down to is, I choose this rushed, frantic pace for my life. If you know me, you know, the hardest thing in the world for me to do is to slow down. But the thing I am realizing is that this is not God's calling for my life. He should not be just another thing on my list of to-dos. I should not have to force myself to slow down and spend time with him. By Thursday nights at 10:15, when my last design class is over, I am exhausted. Juggling a small business and teaching 4 classes a week can be tough. But I have a feeling my level of exhaustion now is laughable compared to what it will be when our little guy comes. Therefore I am choosing to make a conscious effort to observe the daily office and especially the Sabbath, starting now.

Do you have any tips or traditions in your family that has helped you stay on top of your house, job, children, etc. and still have time to observe and enjoy the Sabbath?

This week we spent our Sabbath touring the new wing of the MFA. What do you think? Potential baby Sabbe look alike? We both do have very large heads.