SOUL CrossTraining

I've always thought of resting after expending energy -- as a replenishment for what I had just experienced or endured. So, if I took a run then I'd rest once I had finished my run. Or if I had been really busy finishing up a project, I'd work really hard for an extended period of time THEN I'd rest and recooperate. And to some degree that is still true -- however... I've been learning both from looking at SABBATH over the last several months and practicing SABBATH for the past couple of years -- that it really is more about a rhythm that prepares my heart, soul, and body for what lies ahead. When I am rested and my soul is replenished through time with God I am in a much better place to live well in whatever circumstance I find myself in. Let me be very practical -- and literal. We've been facing some difficult family situations that are requiring a lot of emotional and physical energy. My point is this... if I were to have walked into this new challenge...

Adulthood is mostly about getting things done. Past a certain age, our existence is consumed by obligation. So one of the first things to die in adults in playfulness. Remember how much fun you had playing children's board games? This week take time to play. Even if it's just for an hour or half hour. Start slow. Find a park swing or read a fun magazine, or treat yourself to ice cream, or some other forbidden treat you haven't had since childhood. Just do something for no purpose except to enjoy, spending time producing nothing but adrenaline, laughter and memories.

ATTENTIVENESS The devil distracts. God interrupts. And for some reason, we fall prey to the one and grow oblivious to the other. Brother Lawrence found the most simple device for reversing this. In his small, wise book, The Practice of the Presence of God, he speaks about a companionship with Jesus that is without boundary--not in time, or place, or circumstance. Anywhere, everywhere, in anything, you can be with God. God wishes it and invites it and is present and available right now for it. The only thing missing is us. How aware are you, right now, that Jesus is with you? Why don't you greet him, out lout or, if that's awkward, in your heart? A discipline of becoming present with God in season and out, in church and away, in crisis and routine, in ecstasy and heartache, in thrill and tedium. Throughout your day, just keep saying hello.

This week we're stopping to set our heart right as we "right size" God. The root idea of Sabbath – all living things thrive only by an ample measure of stillness. Stillness like rest, requires a settling of the heart, a calming of the spirit. Sabbath keeping requires two orientations. 1. One is God-ward. 2. The other is time-ward. To keep Sabbath well--both as a day and attitude--we have to think clearly about God and freshly about time. We likely, at some, level, need to change our minds about both. Unless we trust God's sovereignty, we won't dare risk Sabbath. And unless we receive time as abundance and gift, not as rations and burden, we'll never develop a capacity to savor Sabbath. The first orientation for good Sabbath-keeping, the God ward one, takes practice, mostly through thankfulness. Thankfulness invites and acknowledges the presence of God until you are utterly convinced of his goodness and sovereignty, until he's bigger, and you find your res...

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. Proverbs 11:24 "That's the irony; those who sanctify time and who give time away-- who treat time as a gift and not possession--have time in abundance. Contrariwise, those who guard every minute, resent every interruption, ration every moment, never have enough. They're always late, always behind, always scrambling, always driven." Mark Buchanan from his book, THE REST OF GOD. Try this Practice: Try this for a week, giving the gift of yourself first to God and then to others. Be generous with your time. Enter each day with a deep resolve to give your time away, even at times seemingly to squander it,for the sake of purposes beyond your own. Don't just give your time,but yourself--your attention, your affection, the gift of your curiosity and inquisitiveness. See how much time you really have. Post by Dana Randall, co-leader Women of Grace course on The REST OF GOD

Sabbath? a time set aside for rest and restoration Sabbath invites us to STOP . In that ceasing, fresh possibilities abound. We can shut our eyes, if we choose—this is one of Sabbath’s gifts, to relax without guilt. But there is also time enough to open our eyes , to learn again Jesus’ command to watch and pray. Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God Sabbath is a a day or time period set aside for feasting, resting, worshiping, and play. But it is also a posture of the heart and practice we can choose to partake in. Let's start with the heart. When we say sabbath is a posture of the heart, we mean it is a heart that is restful in the midst of the ups and downs of life while being attentive to the presence of God and others. When we say practice, we mean sabbath is siezing opportunities throughout your day to slow down, stop working or focusing on accomplishing. It is both intentionally setting time aside in your day to experience sabbath while paying attention to your surr...