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Sabbath

Posted on Saturday, November 18, 2017

Up until this May, I've been a student pretty much my entire life.  During the last four years specifically, I have become an excellent avoider.  I would spend time with friends, on Netflix, napping, or doing literally anything besides my schoolwork, all the while internally stressing out over all of the things that I was actually supposed to be doing.  College pretty much always makes you feel like you should be doing something that you're not doing.  Even when you're doing homework, you have other homework you also have to do.  Even when you're on break, there's still stuff to get caught up on or to get ahead in or to be studying for.  Sure, I'd take the day off.  I'd take a day or an evening and spend it with friends, when I definitely should have been studying.  But, when I took a break, I always had my schoolwork in the back of my mind.  I'd be stressed about something until I finished it.  Sabbath did not exist, because I had deadlines and assignments that were "more important".

Life after school is funny.  Yeah, I still have deadlines and because I'm in training and because I'm support raising, I even have assignments and homework.  But, the deadlines aren't as absolute as they were in school.  I finish one week of support raising, and I still have seemingly the exact same amount of stuff to do the next week.  My avoidance strategies that I became so skilled at while at Purdue haven't worked so well for me this time around.  

They told us at the support raising training that sabbath would be important; that we needed to take one day a week to intentionally recharge and spend time with the Lord and NOT spend time working on support raising.  I'm pretty sure that went in one ear and just straight out the other, because I haven't taken a true, intentional sabbath day since like week 2.  I'd take breaks, but I was still thinking about all of the things I had to do, what percentage I was at, the time left before I would be finished.  And it really started to take its toll. 

I'm learning now how important it is to take time off.  Because it's incredibly unhealthy to use the avoidance tactic and just be constantly stressed over things.  God wants us to take time and just be with Him.  It doesn't have to be a day of reading your bible or listening to worship music, although those are great things.  It can be spending time with friends or family, or even going to a movie; its whatever brings you joy and energy and leaves you feeling rested! It's intentionally taking time out of your week to NOT think about or do the stressful, necessary parts of life and instead replacing it with things that you find joy and rest in, and having the Lord meet you there. 

Sabbath is a time of rest, a time of re-centering and re-focusing oneself.  I've come to realize it is an essential part of life, of ministry, and of support raising.  

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