Pathways to the Sabbath.

I'm sharing an excerpt from an email to Natalie. It's making reference to a wonderful sermon series from The Journey called Rhythms.

So today I had the special treat of Keith getting to join me for a sabbath, because the school has today off for Presidents Day, I think it is. So I had him listen to the first two of the series with me, so he could catch up. And I really appreciated hearing them again.

Right now, the pathways stuff is on my mind. What are your pathways? I was thinking about how the pathways fit into the sabbath; how the sabbath is a prime opportunity to pursue God via your pathway. My pathways I think are the contemplative, worship, and some naturalist.

But I definitely feel very alive and close to God while homemaking. Making a home. Creating a home. That's literally what is feels like to me--creative. Creating a sanctuary, bringing order, bringing beauty, bringing warmth & safety.

So back to how pathways fit into sabbath. Since I started getting really intentional about taking sabbaths it's been this journey of finding out what the sabbath means for me. If the sabbath was created for me, how can it best serve me? Anyway, I always felt like I should avoid housework on the sabbath, because it was work. And in all the sabbath stuff I've been studying, you hear about how women need a break from that stuff.

But for me in my life right now, I've been putting in tons of time at the cafe and totally neglecting our home. It's been a mess. And it bothers me because I want a home of peace & order. So, the one day that I'm home (sabbath) I feel like I should try to not do it, even if I really want to.

But I think I'm seeing that housework is a pathway for me. It brings me a lot of joy & satisfaction. Like I said, it's creative for me. And you know what? Just like Darrin was saying, that pathway leads into the others. Once my kitchen is clean I just want to sit at my beautiful clean table and read & write & look out the window! Once the floor is clear I want to put on worship music & dance around & sing or bow down on the floor. And I want to have people over to fellowship! Isn't that cool!?

So right now I think I'm deciding that housework is not off limits to me on my Mondays. Not that I should spend my whole day doing housework, but taking some time to clean things up will really edify me & my sabbath. It's totally a pathway to God. I'm really excited about this!