I had mistaken the definition of stop. It’s clearly a verb. It’s an action word.
Stopping is not passive. It doesn’t just happen. So why do I expect it to?
In my world, stopping only happens with intention, planning and prioritizing.
The school year has hit our family in full force now. My kids are in big and busy years, but different this year is that I’m in school too. I’m in an intensive, full-time professional program. You should see the reading lists for my classes. Oh my word! So. Much. Reading.
It would take almost no effort at all to justify stopping any attempt to seek, find or practical Sabbath this school year. Everyone would understand. But, God has put it so strongly on my heart, that I can’t let it go.
Instead, I’m doing the opposite and have explained to my children that we are trying something different this year. We are calling a stop to all school work for Sundays. I want, no… I need one day a week where I’m not doing it, not thinking about it, and not nagging my children about it.
Let’s be honest, this isn’t going to be easy and we may not manage it perfectly. We are going to have to be diligent, intentional and focussed the balance of the week… and organized (which I am not). But, having the boundary in place is our best chance of actually keeping a day of rest.
Do you have boundaries around your Sabbath practice? Are there things you have to be intentional to stop or to start? I’d love to know how this works in your life. Join in the conversation. Comment below, or jump over to our Facebook group, where we can chat.
Seeking Sabbath 
When I began graduate school, there were a few pieces of advice given by the program director:
1. Always get physical books over digital whenever possible.
2. Maintain your devotional life because it is spiritual warfare.
3. Always honor the Sabbath. It is important to have one day of rest: physically, emotionally, and spiritually
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Great advice! In my previous schooling, I worked Sundays and often was doing Mondays reading and assignments on Sunday nights! This is totally a new practice for me.
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Stopping is so tough sometimes. If I’m not careful, I’ll let working and blogging consume me. Recently, I’ve been blocking time to make sure that after an hour, I put away any work and spend time with the kids or my husband it take a walk, read a book, etc.
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I’m the queen of the timer! I often set and reset it in the same task, just so I don’t blink and lose hours without noticing.
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Ooohhh. That’s a good idea too. I just had to stop in the middle of grading papers. I set a timer for everything in my classroom. I should do the same with my regular day to day time blocked stuff.
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It sure helps me stay focussed!
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I’m going to try this! Thanks for suggesting it!
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I’d love to hear how it goes.
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You are both brave and faithful, Nellie! I agree. We need to take the Sabbath that God designed for us to take. If He knows we need a break and time to just focus on Him, then surely we better follow His lead!
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Thanks for the encouragement. I’m definitely trying to figure this out and how to enjoy the gift of Sabbath, while not becoming legalistic. I have faith that I will get there!
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I’m fascinated by the whole Sabbath idea, because God was furious at His people when they did work on the Sabbath. They were supposed to rest. And yet our American society works continuously until they crash.
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I’m really trying to figure out how to honour resting in Him as part of my regular life rhythm. We do live in a fast past, push hard kind of world. I’ve just been reading in the book of John though, where Jesus confounds the Pharisees by “working” on the Sabbath. I don’t want to be like the Pharisees and focus on rules so much and miss what God is doing around me either. It’s feeling like a paradoxical puzzle to me at the moment!
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