Sabbath

For the past twelve years - up until just recently, Sunday has always been our heaviest work day. Certainly not a day of rest. So, from the beginning of our marriage - before kids even - we set aside another day of the week for our holy day.

Our family day of rest.

The day has changed throughout the years, depending on our jobs and season of life, but the concept has stayed the same.

(Packing the beast for anything and everything: bikes, stroller, helmets, multiple changes of clothing, picnic, snacks, water, fishing poles, tackle boxes etc. etc. etc. Three kids included).

(A cup of deliciousness for the roadtrip. Extra points for no spillage. This rarely happens...the extra points, I mean).

Our phones get put on vibrate.
And work for the week gets put on hold.
The mowing, the laundry, the garden, the cleaning, the wood, meetings, appointments, the voicemail, and the email messages - they'll all be there tomorrow.

So today, we will hunker down as a family and we'll re-connect.

What we do or where we go doesn't really matter.
But, usually we do kick it. It help us focus better.

Family Day is for play. For re-connecting.
It's for assessing and re-assessing where we are at in life, in our marriage, and as a family unit.

Are we good?
What do we need to work on?
How are the boys?
Is anything out of balance?
What do we need to put the brakes on - or maybe invest in a little more?

It's a family retreat, of sorts.
A weekly, in-depth check-in.

Early on in our ministry, we watched and we learned and we gleaned from those who have been ahead of us. No ministry is perfect, and certainly no family is for that matter. But we want to make us work. We want to learn from past mistakes and glean from those who have done it well.

We have made deliberate, intentional decisions from the very beginning - to protect, nurture, and safe guard our family. And we're pretty specific - like down to the number of evenings we will be out in a week, how many activities we will involve ourselves in, and how many mealtimes and bedtime tuck-ins we will be away from because of our ministry.

We grew up in the era of "Burn out for Jesus," and "Sacrifice family on the altar of ministry," and "Ministry is a twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week job; there are no boundaries, and there is no vacation time." Noble mantras, maybe. But, I think there needs to be balance somewhere.

There will be seasons, for sure. Busyness will ebb and flow. There definitely needs to be sacrifice, yes. But if we can help it, there will be no collateral damage. We will fight for our family.

And if we're honest, what ministry is really and truly effective if their family is suffering? How thriving can our ministries really be if our families aren't doing well?

In Andy Stanley's book, "Choosing to Cheat" he states that every day we make choices and decisions. Always, constantly we are choosing something over something else. It's the way it goes. We are one person, and the needs are many. Something will always get cheated.

And here's a radical thought for some: Christ tells husbands to love their wives the way He loved the church and died for it. He didn't tell husbands to love the church and die for the church.

So, for one day a week, we're intentionally choosing to cheat on the rest of life. And I'm pretty sure we have His stamp of approval.

Because in my mind, this ministry is the only ministry that's twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with no vacation time.

For one day, someone else can handle an emergency.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule. For family and friends, we would drop everything in a heartbeat without a second thought. But for the rest of the world, we are not too proud to think that we are the only ones who could handle an issue if it arises. And as long as there are people, there will always and forever be needs.

Sound rude? Harsh? Wild? Out of the box?
Each to his own, I guess.

But just as with any other intentional ministry - we have set aside one deliberate, focused day for ministry to our family. And I think that's pretty important, too.

There will come a day when we can be spread a little thinner, when we can say yes to more things, when we can add more to our plates, and when we can be the head of any ministry team that we wish. Someday.

But not today.

If you need me, I'm available first thing tomorrow morning, and you'll have my full and undivided attention.
But, until then, I'm on a family retreat at the ocean.

**********
1031. Family roadtrips - snacks, music, crazy love.
1032. Being silly - deep, belly laughs.
1033. Boys who love the outdoors as much as their Daddy.
1034. Baby snores coming from the backseat.
1035. God's creation - vast and wild.
1036. The song of rushing water.
1037. Simple pleasures - wet feet, frogs eggs, casting a line.
1038. Boy joy in a bucket of minnows.
1039. God's whispers in the trees.
1040. Picnics in the woods - sticks for utensils.
1041. Bike rides on beautiful trails.
1042. 1st icecream cone of the season - bubblegum!
1043. Sleepy, sweaty, grubby, satisfied little boys.