Sabbath: Why Resting Weekly is Part of Thriving in Business and Life
I sincerely believe that we were never meant to do life or our businesses alone. So while outsourcing the things that you need an extra hand in is so helpful, I also believe that is only part of what will help you and your business. The first and foremost that will help you is setting aside a consistent day for rest, or a Sabbath.
Every Friday hits and it is so fun to anticipate the coming dinner. My family and I decided a few years ago to try out having our rest day of the week start on Friday night and end on Saturday night. The goal every Friday is to have a fun dinner planned and it might take extra time to make. But that is part of the fun! Since it’s meant to go slower I’ll choose to invite my kids into the cooking. I love being able to see them light up at the end of the process when we praise them for their help in serving the family. Another thing I love to do for this dinner is set the table up with a runner, candles and maybe some flowers too. It looks so beautiful and sets a tone for the dinner, my kids always know it is the Sabbath when we intentionally set up the table this way.
Once Saturday comes we have a fun breakfast that we let the kids pick and again have them help us. We get to eat and go slower in the morning and use this time to connect with each other. Once breakfast is done, the kids will do Bible study time with my husband and sometimes with me. This can be hard with such young kids as we don’t normally sit still very long but as we continue to do it the longer we all seem to be able to sit still. Our hope is this will demonstrate to the kids a way to pursue God and seek Him.
The rest of the day is normally low key as we try to not over plan. Depending on how the week goes and what season we are in, we will do something with our hands and then let our bodies rest in the afternoon.
We truly hold what the sabbath looks like loosely as every week is different and our needs for rest look different too. Sometimes we need to be really creative with our hands and want to paint or do a house project. Sometimes we want to get outside and explore or rest by the beach. Other times we want to go really slow, read and take naps. Every week and season brings something different, but you have to be willing to engage in this to know what your family needs.
“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27
This is such an important truth and something that we all need to remember. We were never meant to keep going 24/7 and Yahweh knew this. He intentionally made the Sabbath for us to rest and engage with so we can keep going and doing whatever it is He has called us too. While it might take time to choose to engage with rest and it may look different for every family, this is will be a very impactful thing to implement into your weekly routine.
Keep in mind too, that as you engage with rest more, you will find that your creativity will thrive and I’m sure your business will too. Again, we are not meant to keep going all the time. If you are feeling stuck and overwhelmed in your work, you might just need to take a step back, breathe for a day and then come back to it.
