I've taken a few days off-sort of a sabbatical. Blame it on our minister. He spoke about the Sabbath and what it is and isn't. Since hearing his message on Sunday, I've done a lot of thinking. And changing of things. First off, it doesn't matter when you take your Sabbath-just take one. We are all wired to *need* one. And yes, it contradicts societies idea of the more you do, the more important you are. But look at Chick-fil-a. They aren't open on Sundays and yet their business is through the roof. You don't *need* to be on the go, operating 24/7 to be successfull. Also, a Sabbath is resting the mind and body. Shutting the tv, cell phone and other noises off. In fact, he (our minister) advises taking time everyday-preferrably an hour-to shut off all noise and sit. The Sabbath doesn't have to be somber. It doesn't have to be a day of no activity. What it is though is a reminder to rest and stop thinking about work and stop doing work. It is a time to sit back and say "It is good." Look around you and think about the good in your life. The fact you are alive, and loved by your heavenly father is enough to contemplate and think on all day!
Sooooo, my Sabbatically-minded self is trying to rest now from anything that brings about stress, or dis-ease in my life. And frankly, being online sometimes is a battle. My youngest sees my bottom planted on the computer chair and he sees a mom actively doing nothing. So he demands attention-more so than usual. Or if I get online during his nap, I miss a wonderful opportunity to rest myself. Or if I get online at night, I sacrifice precious time I don't get much of with hubby. So I decided just for a few days, I would not engage in the battle.
Amazing what I've gotten done around the house!!
Speaking of housework...is it just me or is there a major difference in decluttering, housework and picking up? Picking up is putting shoes back where they go and getting dishes and cups from the living room to the kitchen, (the cocktail waitress task) Cleaning is vacuuming, laundry, dusting. Decluttering is going through the stack of mail on the counter, or the stack of odds and ends that have piled up on my dresser. Now that I have made that one clear, here's my beef. I would have no problems getting the cleaning done if it weren't for the daily decluttering and picking up. Can I get a witness? Either the dusting and vacuuming take a back seat to picking up, or decluttering doesn't get done because I am cleaning. Ok. Now that I made that simple enough, should I say the deep cleaning (baseboards, closets, windows ect) hardly ever get cleaned because I am trying to get to the other things. {SIGH}
I got sad news this morning that the minister that married hubby and I 17 years ago, and had been a friend of the family for 20 years, passed over the weekend. He was 82. Funny how life goes marching on. It's a reality check to understand you are never so important that this world will shut down if you weren't here. It does you good to realize how small you are in the whole scope of things. Keeps that head fitting good on the shoulders.
