THE RHYTHM OF REST

(Sabbath and Freedom)

BRAINSTORM

• Plan ahead how you will spend your weekly Sabbath, prepare what you need for it (get a reservation at a restaurant, get sunscreen, get a new book, etc.), and anticipate it!

• One day a week, don’t check your email.

• If the answer to the question “Where do you experience the most fatigue?” is doing dishes for your family, then the answer might be that once a week you use paper plates. This one is from my friend Jess.

• Weekly: take a day off from social media. Every six months: take a week off from social media. Every year: take a month off from social media. (Take even more time off if you can—do what works for you. Either way, make sure you delete the apps from your phone!)

• If Sabbath is new for you, start practicing a full day of Sabbath once a week or every other week. If that’s not doable, start with once a month! But start. Practice.

• Can’t practice Sabbath the same day every week? At the beginning of each month, look at your monthly calendar, and your commitments for each week, and pick and plan for a day each week where you will not stop, rest, and delight.

BRAINSTORM from the community

  • I love my rest day...however I'm an enneagram 7, so it's not the typical way rest is viewed. I do not work on Friday and I use that as my day of rest. I drop my children off for school, my husband leaves for work and I have from 730-330. It really doesn't look the same each week. I have zero plans for Fridays (every once in a while I will invite a friend), I just do what I feel I need to do to recharge and be a better person by 3:30. Here's some things I have done (started this in 2016): sit at a coffee shop and write, bike around the city, go shopping, layout and work on my tan, invite a friend to spend the day together, drive around and blast music, play guitar, meet random strangers while I'm out "resting" and have amazing conversations, try new restaurants. The best part for me about this type of rest is the unknown (what am I going to do and who I'm going to meet). I love the feelings of being free to experience whatever God has for me that day. Oh...but it gets better. Since 2012, my husband and I also have our date night on Friday night (this year it changes because we have a high school football player for a son... so Saturday dates now till Oct). We make it a priority to go just the two of us and eat really good food. There are days when I'm in the mix of work, kids and life and I think...I just need to make it to Friday. - Chandra M.

  • One day a week, I spend an extended period in prayer and then spend time prepping my meals for the week. Cooking is one of my passions and being in the kitchen is my safe place - my happy space. I have had some of the most interesting conversations with God while doing so. It’s like having a conversation with my best friend on Earth. Nothing is off the table and there is quiet time for me to listen. - Bernadette J.

  • Rest for me includes solo hiking or kayaking so I can be in nature where I connect most with God. I find He always meets me there. It is where I hear His voice the loudest. Silence and Solitude. - Carmen E.

  • One of our values at church is Sabbath/rest. Once a week I’ll plan out a day where I’m not doing anything I don’t want to and just spending time with the Holy Spirit. Some weeks it’s me taking my camera on a walk, being still and communing with God that way. Other times it’s me going to my favorite coffee shop followed by doing a new craft project DIY. It can also be me turning off my notifications on my phone, trying a new recipe and playing my vinyls as I cook. Each season looks different and I love how God speaks to me in each one. - Melissa P.

This page will continue to grow with Brainstorm ideas and Resources. To share some of your own rhythms or suggested resources, submit at the form on the main Personal Trellis page.