Six years ago a series of events occurred that led me and my family to an opportunity to change our lives. At the time, it seemed like a chance to, as author John Eldridge says, "pursue our hearts". So after a lot of inspirational discussions and perhaps, a little less prayer, we decided to send my husband back to school and me out into the workplace. As you can imagine, this radically altered our lives. This whole experience is a story in and of itself, but the part I want to share right now is how it affected the pace of our lives.

Between my husband's full-time school demands, his part-time work, my full-time job, our leadership roles in church, our three children and the demands of a home - family- marriage, there just simply wasn't enough time. In fact, time became our most needed and lacking commodity. Though degrees were obtained (with high academic achievement and distinctions) and our family stayed intact, to be honest, we incurred a lot of damage along the way.

By year two of this overly ambitious endeavor, our lives had completely lost any sense of rhythm or order. Every spare minute was consumed. Night times were no longer used for sleep; they were used for research papers, or laundry. Weekends were full of errand running, household chores, and obligatory church responsibilities and had become barely indistinguishable from weekdays. Sick days weren't allowed as there was no time to be sick, and for five years we couldn't even manage a family vacation. Exhaustion became the norm, rest became an imposition and time with God or family had become an uncommon luxury.

It was only after school ended and an ensuing family crisis occurred that I finally was able to see how manic we had let our lives become. As I began the arduous task of recovery, the practice of spiritual disciplines and contemplative spirituality became practical means to move forward, One of the first disciplines that jumped out at me was the practice of recognizing a Sabbath.

In the traditional and sometimes legalistic teachings of my past I had learned all about "keeping a Sabbath". The Sabbath, as I knew it, was Sunday and was a day when you really shouldn't work. I even knew some Christians who wouldn't shop, eat out, cook at home, mow their grass, or do any type of "work" or engage in any type of activity that caused another person to work. Between these influences and my own lack of understanding I had come to view the practice of keeping a Sabbath as an archaic and nonviable option for the twenty-first century. But now, as I heard a new approach to the Sabbath and looked out over my life - a life sorely in need of boundaries and order, a life that had clearly violated and even dismissed this commandment-I began to think otherwise.

I have now come to see the Sabbath, not as a rule/restriction or primeval practice, but as a wise and necessary boundary. It is a God-ordained means to maintain a healthy pace of life despite the demands of society and, when coupled with other practices such as the Daily Office and observance of the Church Calendar, it can be a natural way to order time around the ecclesiastical rather than the man-made. It can offer protection from our unmerciful Western society and even a valid excuse to the power of sin that often masquerades itself as our hard-working Protestant work ethics. The next thing that struck me was my arrogance at resisting the Sabbath all of these years. After all, it was a self-imposed practice by God himself. If God rested and instructed the Children of Israel to sabbath, where did I come up with the crazy ideal that I knew better? And as I pondered this I quickly arrived at the whole faith issue. Where was my faith being placed- in me or in the Lord? Who was I relying on to get everything done? By this one act alone I was saying that it was all up to me. Conversely, by choosing to practice a day of rest each week, I could say that no matter how much work there was, no matter how many needs there were in my life, my trust was in God. However when I was suddenly faced with this choice, I must confess, I found it to be a scary proposition. To give up one whole day - 24 hours -seemed something I could not afford to do. I could do so much with that day and there was so much on my To Do list, but by choosing to observe a Sabbath I could actually put my money where my mouth was, so to speak.

One author that helped challenge me in this area was Peter Scazzero. In his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, he says this about the Sabbath:" We imitate God by stopping our work and resting. If we can stop for one day a week...we touch something deep within us as image bearers of God. Our human brain, our bodies, our spirits, and our emotions become wired by God for the rhythm of work and rest in him." He then goes on to say, "Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Moses proclaimed further that the very act of ceasing from work in the midst of all the surrounding nations was a sign of their liberation by God (see Deut. 5:13). By the very act of refusing to succumb to the enormous pressure of Western culture around us, we, too, serve as a sign of a free people. We have been called out of a world trying to prove its worth and value by what it does or possesses. We are deeply loved by God for who we are, not for what we do." Once again, I could see where lies had led to bondage. But once again, God was being faithful to reveal truth and lead me into freedom.

Other pieces of advice that helped me in the practice of having a Sabbath were Peter Scazzero's words to stop, rest, delight, and contemplate. According to him, these are the four principals of having a biblical Sabbath. Stop - embrace your limits and by stopping profess that God is on his throne and "the world will not fall apart if we cease our activities". Rest - don't just rest from work, rest from busyness. Respect your physical limits and needs and engage in whatever replenishes you. Don't let illness or disease force you into rest. Delight- as God delighted in creation, we need to delight in what we have - the people and provisions both natural and man-made that we take for granted and that enhance our lives. Contemplate - let the purpose for this new-found space and time be an opportunity to be with God. As you rest and delight let these activities lead you back to their source and your source - your loving God and Father.

In conclusion, I wish I could say that I've become a master of this, but I cannot. My flesh patterns of perfectionism, co-dependency, workaholism still tempt me to cheat and sometimes I give in. But I did take my first vacation in five years this past month and I'm committed to this practice as a means honoring myself and creating regular time and space for God in my week. As always I pray that this encourages you in your own journey of faith.