The Beginning: Mary

Don't you hate those books?  You know, not the cozy books you snuggle with in your bed.  Not the comical books which incite chuckles and giggles.  Not the brainless books which are devoured in an hour.  I'm talking about those books which cause tiny quakes in the earth beneath your feet.  Your world shifts.  Your heart breaks.  Your eyes water.  Your shame rises.  And you know, you just know, you cannot remain the same after the turn of these pages.  Well, one of those books is how this all started.

If you're wondering what this is, well so am I.  Which is why I love journeys; you need nothing figured out except with whom you're journeying.  And so I start, a step towards God, a step with my husband, all on this journey called A Year of Sabbaths.  If you're wondering whether or not we are Jewish, I respond no.  We are just two people trying, and failing, and trying some more, to give and receive God's love in a whirlwind of a life.  It seems love is born of a restful heart, and well frankly, my heart is anything but.  Hopefully I will say differently at the end of this year.

If you're curious as to the culprit book that got this party started, well it is entitled Sacred Rhythms (see my entry entitled Rest-Full Reads for a link to the book), but I have entitled it The Book That Started It All...Darn It.  My best friend Tammy and I spent last year reading, discussing and trying to practice the spiritual disciplines described in this book.  And while all along I was challenged and overwhelmed, something really snapped for me when I encountered chapter 8:  "Sabbath: Establishing Rhythms of Rest and Work."  And when I say snapped, I don't mean it in a negative way. I tend to be a reader, not a doer; snapping brings about change in my life.  I'll save some discussion on what impacted me so much for a later entry, but for now I'll summarize by saying, "Uh-oh, things have to change."

And so here we are, January 9th, 2010.  Tomorrow we practice our first intentional day of rest.  Not rest as in sit-my-lazy-rear-in-front-of-the-TV-and-mentally-check-out (previous definition for me), but rest as in no technology, no participating in the American economy, no work,  no activities which stress my heart, soul, and/or mind.  I'll read my Bible.  I'll journal.  I'll spend time focused on Dave, instead of just with him.  I'll read a book.  I'll nap.  I'll light a candle and just sit.  I'll eat slowly, walk slowly, think slowly.  I'll relax in our home and enjoy the sunshine that dances off the mountainsides.  I'll enjoy a long walk, or run, or both, or none.  I will NOT multi-task.  I will not think about work.  I will not relinquish power to the worries that be.  They have crushing control in my life 6 days of the week, but no longer on this 7th day...the Sabbath.