Ahhh…the eternal rat race I so lovingly call my life.
Funny how I can just get back from a retreat…a weekend away…and already feel behind. In fact, as I sit here writing to you, I have a living room and dining room full of suitcases, bags, and sacks, waiting to be unloaded, and right now it’s looking like (with the exception of things I need before then) Wednesday is going to be the best time to undertake that project.
I don’t know how people who are married and have kids do it – because I’m single and behind. This whole year has been full of such fun adventures, and certainly my scrapbook has much to show for it (or it would if I had time to scrap them) yet my basic life is in a state of upheaval.
Last week I found myself digging through my cedar chest looking for a shirt to wear to work – because I don’t have my winter clothes out yet. I haven’t had a Saturday at home to do the great seasonal laundry swap, and I refuse to be so busy that I require a vacation day to do my laundry. I might be facing the replacement of an entire yard of grass if I don’t make it outside sometime soon to rake my leaves. I console myself with the news that at least now that they’re all on the ground, dead, and shriveled up, they should fit much more compactly (is that a word?) into my trash bags!
We won’t even talk about the last time I dusted or swept my house – because it would mortify my mother, and let the record show, she did raise me better than that.
So the combination of digging for seasonally appropriate clothing, the inscription of my name on top of my coffee table, and the realization that I now have an entire THATCH of gray hair sitting at the front of my head (because I’ve been too busy to call for a redye), has driven me to admit that I am too busy and I must learn to eliminate and say no. NOW.
Some of you might remember that a couple of years ago, I took a month-long “sabbatical.” Other than church and work – activities I could not miss – I didn’t do anything for a month except stay home and read or write or clean or cook…all catching up.
Enter my plan for next year.
Oh how nice it would be to take a year-long sabbatical from it all. Hide away in a hole and read and write for a whole year. Sadly, I don’t think my mortgage company is going to recognize that as an acceptable means of payment for 12 straight months. So I’m going with plan B.
I haven’t really formulated plan B yet, but it occurred to me (probably via God) that back in the Bible times, they had built in – by God – a Sabbath year of rest. See, He knew we crazy humans would overextend ourselves and our land. So He made a way to rest. He told Moses that every seventh year, the land had to rest. They weren’t supposed to plant crops or work in the vineyards. That, in turn, gave them a year off – because that kind of work created their jobs. So it was an all around break for everyone.
I like it. I think everyone should have a Sabbath year of rest. This seems like the perfect year for me to do it – because this is my seventh year of work in the same job, my seventh year out of college (we will not even talk about that) – my seventh year living in this house…do you see a pattern?
My goal is to create a way for me to cut down on the things I’m involved in and to take stock of what I do. It’s great to be involved, but when you’re involved in 112 things, you can’t do any of them well, because you’re running around trying to accomplish everything.
What I really want is a year of Jubilee. That was one of God’s plans too – and it came every fifty years. That year, they not only got to rest, but they got to wipe out all their debt and slaves were set free and no one charged interest and…boy I sure could use one of those right now! Again – I don’t think the mortgage company is going to buy into that, really.
The holidays are coming up, and I suppose it’s pointless to tell anyone to take a rest right before the busiest season on earth. I know it’s pointless to tell me that. But maybe you should think about taking a year of Sabbath rest – or even a week of it. Just don’t go anywhere. Because the unpacking will require another whole year of rest!
Funny how I can just get back from a retreat…a weekend away…and already feel behind. In fact, as I sit here writing to you, I have a living room and dining room full of suitcases, bags, and sacks, waiting to be unloaded, and right now it’s looking like (with the exception of things I need before then) Wednesday is going to be the best time to undertake that project.
I don’t know how people who are married and have kids do it – because I’m single and behind. This whole year has been full of such fun adventures, and certainly my scrapbook has much to show for it (or it would if I had time to scrap them) yet my basic life is in a state of upheaval.
Last week I found myself digging through my cedar chest looking for a shirt to wear to work – because I don’t have my winter clothes out yet. I haven’t had a Saturday at home to do the great seasonal laundry swap, and I refuse to be so busy that I require a vacation day to do my laundry. I might be facing the replacement of an entire yard of grass if I don’t make it outside sometime soon to rake my leaves. I console myself with the news that at least now that they’re all on the ground, dead, and shriveled up, they should fit much more compactly (is that a word?) into my trash bags!
We won’t even talk about the last time I dusted or swept my house – because it would mortify my mother, and let the record show, she did raise me better than that.
So the combination of digging for seasonally appropriate clothing, the inscription of my name on top of my coffee table, and the realization that I now have an entire THATCH of gray hair sitting at the front of my head (because I’ve been too busy to call for a redye), has driven me to admit that I am too busy and I must learn to eliminate and say no. NOW.
Some of you might remember that a couple of years ago, I took a month-long “sabbatical.” Other than church and work – activities I could not miss – I didn’t do anything for a month except stay home and read or write or clean or cook…all catching up.
Enter my plan for next year.
Oh how nice it would be to take a year-long sabbatical from it all. Hide away in a hole and read and write for a whole year. Sadly, I don’t think my mortgage company is going to recognize that as an acceptable means of payment for 12 straight months. So I’m going with plan B.
I haven’t really formulated plan B yet, but it occurred to me (probably via God) that back in the Bible times, they had built in – by God – a Sabbath year of rest. See, He knew we crazy humans would overextend ourselves and our land. So He made a way to rest. He told Moses that every seventh year, the land had to rest. They weren’t supposed to plant crops or work in the vineyards. That, in turn, gave them a year off – because that kind of work created their jobs. So it was an all around break for everyone.
I like it. I think everyone should have a Sabbath year of rest. This seems like the perfect year for me to do it – because this is my seventh year of work in the same job, my seventh year out of college (we will not even talk about that) – my seventh year living in this house…do you see a pattern?
My goal is to create a way for me to cut down on the things I’m involved in and to take stock of what I do. It’s great to be involved, but when you’re involved in 112 things, you can’t do any of them well, because you’re running around trying to accomplish everything.
What I really want is a year of Jubilee. That was one of God’s plans too – and it came every fifty years. That year, they not only got to rest, but they got to wipe out all their debt and slaves were set free and no one charged interest and…boy I sure could use one of those right now! Again – I don’t think the mortgage company is going to buy into that, really.
The holidays are coming up, and I suppose it’s pointless to tell anyone to take a rest right before the busiest season on earth. I know it’s pointless to tell me that. But maybe you should think about taking a year of Sabbath rest – or even a week of it. Just don’t go anywhere. Because the unpacking will require another whole year of rest!
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