Finding My Sabbath

Byron and I have had a lot of discussions, lately, about rest, boundaries, and protecting/insulating ourselves and family from the stresses of the world as much as possible. My current issues with my nervous system have definitely factored in to these conversations. Avoiding extreme stress has become a necessity, not just for me, but for all of us in the Bledsoe household. It has been a wake-up-call for us, in that, no matter how strong you think you are or how ready you feel for the fight, your body can say, "No more!", and then you are forced to take inventory of your priorities.

Of course, God knows that we must set aside time for true rest in order to even worship properly. This presents some obvious difficulties for the household of a pastor because the Sabbath is, inherently, a "work day". So, traditionally, minister's families just suck it up and do without respite - and not even God can convince them that you can't work yourself into worship...as if to say that what God has required for us to function at our best, and honor Him with our efforts - a day of rest - is not necessary for the leaders. There's a piety in living like the world will stop revolving if I ("Super Pastor/Pastor's Wife") don't work for the kingdom 24/7. How many pastor's families secretly know that they come AFTER the calling?

So, Byron and I are looking at and praying about finding a way to observe Sabbath before, and therefore leading into, Sunday. We haven't figured it out yet, but we do know that it's going to take a lot of planning ahead if Saturday, for instance, will be our day of rest (especially since that's the day when all of the "running" has to be done - and especially since I'm a huge procrastinator). But, we know we need to at least entertain the idea of setting aside a "Day of Rest", so that we can be prepared to worship and work on Sunday. Also, Saturday seems like a natural choice because the Enemy, without fail, throws his biggest arrows on Saturdays - So, intentional insulation will make us even more productive in our work.

Who knows us better than our Creator, so who can have a better plan than He does. Sometimes - a lot of the time - we just come up with excuses for why we're the exception.

So, we're on a journey to discover how to fulfill our calling and how to find our Sabbath at the same time. It's an interesting journey. I'll do my best to chronicle our discoveries along the way.

I hope you all find some rest in Him today. Peace.