So I’ve been talking about the Biblical Feasts and the Sabbath but have I actually been trying to put these things into action?
Yes, we have. We don’t have a perfect routine yet but we are trying to make an intentional effort to include the Sabbath into our weeks as well as making plans to include the Biblical Feasts into our yearly plans… even though we aren’t quite sure how that will look yet.
As far as the Sabbath goes, we have been doing it on Sundays. I know there is a lot of debate about Saturday or Sunday but for now, Sunday is what works for us. I also know that the Sabbath should begin at sundown the day before but we didn’t do that either although I may try to start that.
Our first Sabbath was far from perfect but it did go pretty well. We tried to get the bulk of the chores and housework finished on Saturday. We also prepped most of the meals for Sunday so that all we had to do was throw some things in the crockpots to cook on Sunday… I know that this is not technically following some of the rules that some people have for the Sabbath but I am trying to do what GOD is leading me to do and these things may change in the future.
I feel that God created the Sabbath because He created us and He knows that our bodies need rest. He also knows how stubborn we can be and that many of us will just keep pushing on until we are utterly exhausted. This leads to so many health issues as well as issues with our relationships with others and with God. The Sabbath, to me, is a day not only to rest but also to relax and enjoy time with your family. More important it is a day to reflect on the things that God has brought you through, and all that He has blessed you with, as well as a day to spend working on your relationship with Him. When you truly sit and reflect on all that He has done you can’t help but be AMAZED and OVERWHELMED at just how AWESOME He truly is!
I’ve also read so many ‘rules’ that it can get quite confusing as to what is ‘allowed’ or not allowed on the Sabbath. My feeling is that we need to do things we enjoy or things to help our family or others but we shouldn’t be doing things for a profit and we shouldn’t expect others to do things that we wouldn’t want to do on the Sabbath. I do know that emergencies will come up and situations may will happen where we will have to do things that we normally wouldn’t do on the Sabbath but we will deal with those events when they happen. We also know that some things like cooking can be considered a chore by some but may be a relaxing hobby by others so everyone’s definition of rest and relaxation is different which means everyone’s Sabbath may look a bit different.
We did sleep in a little bit and everyone wasn’t in any kind of rush to get the morning started. The kids had a breakfast casserole for breakfast and Mr. Awesome and I had omelets. I definitely see some more freezer cooking sessions in my future as those meals would work so well for the Sabbath preparations!
After breakfast, we watched an online sermon from the church that my eldest daughter attends. It was nice to be able to sit together and listen to God’s word… the message was really good as well. It really answered some questions that I’ve had and gave me some hope and encouragement that I so desperately needed.
Going to church in the past has posed its own set of challenges as doing anything with a group of kids or a special needs child can. In the past, I would often need to leave service early because of various reasons related to my kiddos but this Sunday I was able to sit and focus on the sermon.
Mr. W needed to go to the potty as soon as the sermon started and he went… I didn’t have to get up and go with him. One of the other kiddos was having a mini meltdown so she went to her room for a few minutes where she wasn’t disturbing anyone else. The baby wanted to take a nap so she climbed up in my lap and I rocked her to sleep. This doesn’t mean that we won’t ever attend a church service but for now, this works better for us… I have been watching sermons online for a bit now but this was the first time that the whole family watched one together and it was just really nice to have everyone together.
We had lunch after the service. It consisted of some leftover Breakfast Casserole and leftovers for anyone hungry. We used paper plates for the meals and then put any dirty dishes in the dishwasher to wash later.
Once lunch was finished some of the kids went to their rooms for quiet time and naps… I was tempted to nap as well but I had been wanting to work on a diamond art painting that I’ve had for a couple of years. I spent a few minutes working on it until the baby decided she needed Momma and then I went to the bedroom to sit with her.
I read a little from the couple of books I had gotten about Holy Days and Biblical Feasts and when she went to sleep I got up and threw dinner in the crockpots. We had Creamy Cabbage and Sausage, Lentil Soup, Cornbread, and some leftover veggies for dinner. The bread had been cooked the day before and I realized that I forgot to try making some Challah but that was just one thing to add to our ‘try to do better’ list.
I had told the kids that they could have the day to do whatever they wanted so I figured they would be outside playing or fishing or something but we had some NASTY weather. Then I thought they might play some board games or work on some puzzles as they are always BEGGING to get them out but NOPE, they just played in their rooms, read books, or wandered about the house not really doing anything. I don’t allow electronics on Sundays or they probably would’ve been asking to play Minecraft or something like that.
Once we had dinner the kids loaded the dishwasher, which was full by this time, and we started it. They did a quick wipe down of the table and kitchen and the chores were finished. They spent the rest of the evening watching a movie in the living room with Mr. Awesome as I went to the bedroom with the baby because she was a bit grumpy. I had planned to watch some of ‘The Chosen’ but Shyanne had other plans.
All in all, it was a nice peaceful day that went fairly well. There were a few things that didn’t get taken care of on Saturday as I had gone to bed early with a sudden onset migraine… it was pretty bad. There were a few things, like the Challah Bread, that I completely forgot about. The good news was that nothing was so bad that it prevented us from enjoying the day. We had been looking forward to doing a little gardening but the weather prevented this. Gardening may seem like a chore to some but this is something that we really enjoy so I was looking forward to it.
We will be making a little Sabbath Checklist to help keep us on track as we establish this new habit in our lives. Once we get the checklist figured out, I’ll try to post it for you all. We still have a lot of things to figure out and we are not experts on the matter. Even if we were, I know there would be some who would disagree with the way that we observe the Sabbath but I believe that God convicts everyone in different ways and I am just trying to do what He is leading me to do for my family. What He leads me to do may be different than what He leads others to do as He has definitely led us down some paths that we would not have chosen for ourselves in the past but He has been GOOD and He has always provided us with more than we DESERVED.
Our Sabbath did give us a chance to rest before the upcoming week which has already proven to be a little more challenging than we could have predicted but it has also brought some unexpected blessings as well. It has many of us already looking forward to the next Sabbath, which happens to be Super Bowl Sunday, so we are already trying to think of some of the preparations that we need to make before then.
Do you observe the Sabbath? If so, what are some of the things you like to do on the Sabbath?
Other resources that you may find helpful:
Pollywog's Place Blog 
3 thoughts on “Starting Our Sabbath”