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Nov. 16, 2008
Time is fleeting...take time to "Be still..."
Why does that sound like a broken record? At 49 I never thought I would be thinking and saying what my parents said so often..."time is flying so fast!" I keep working on ways to slow down time...I wonder if it is even possible. But, I have noticed that when I stop and don't try to cram one more thing in...I am able to rest better and meet the almost daily crises with peace and more logical thinking. Whereas when I am trying to catch up to my schedule or push four more things into an already full day...everything that was not planned appears to be a crises. Take for example last Tuesday evening...my husband and I were supposed to be getting ready to leave for the monthly Gideon's meeting when our son came in with a report that our daughter's horse appeared to be colicky. (Not a good thing for horses!) Just as we were trying to process that piece of information, the telephone rang...it was our middle daughter calling (we were at our business) to say our youngest daughter's puppy (the one we picked up in IN earlier this year) had followed her into the garage as she was putting up her bike and...ate rat poison! Both of these things can be fatal to the animals. So...we took a deep breath, called the vet, sent our middle son up to administer 2 TBS of hydrogen peroxide to the puppy to make her throw up QUICKLY before it got to her blood stream... and saddled up the horse for a LONG ride....it also happened to be raining. After the puppy had thrown up the requisite amount of poison eaten we got ready and arrived about 20 minutes late for Gideons. I was NOT calm for hours...in fact I had lost my peace...I am not sure I had it ALL day! By Friday, I knew I needed to reconnect with HIS peace. I had been having my quiet time every morning...but my outspoken prayer time had been rather skimpy...and my time of truly praising HIM was hardly there at all. In truth I felt as if I had lost my joy in the journey. SO, I spent time in wonderful, generous outspoken prayer...with a LOT of thanksgiving! What a difference it made in my outlook. We had a sweet peaceful Friday evening dinner. I haven't said a whole lot about how we 'keep' Friday and Saturday. More than a few years back...in our homeschooling we were studying our 'traditions' and where they had originated...boy, were we in for a shock. At the same time we were studying the Old Testament. The children asked why we didn't 'keep' the 10 commandments. I was shocked and said, "Of course we keep the 10 commandments!" They said, "What about the Sabbath Day?" I replied, "That was changed in the New Testament when Jesus rose from the dead." They then asked, "Where does it say that?" In my best "mother knows these things, after all she went to Bible College and Grandpa IS a Baptist pastor" voice, I assured them I couldn't quite remember chapter and verse...but I would find it and share it with them soon. The only problem was...I couldn't find it...and neither could my husband. SO we began an earnest study that tied into our other study of traditions. When it was all said and done...is it EVER ALL said and done?!?...my husband VERY carefully decided that it was worth doing an indepth study on the Biblical Sabbath. After having done that and with much prayer (and trembling), after all this was totally DIFFERENT from anything either of us had been taught, we began to simply try to 'keep' the Sabbath. We had studied together with the children and they were more ready for this than either my husband or me. So, we plan all week to celebrate the beginning of Sabbath on Friday evening. The laundry is done, the house cleaned, the food prepared ahead of time. (Mama can't rest if everything isn't ...mostly..tidy!)  Then as it gets dark...the table is set with a beautiful cloth, the china, silver and crystal and a special meal and dessert are prepared. We light oil lamps and candles all over the house and turn off the lights. Usually I put on peaceful, quiet music. As we come to the table, Bobby asks if there is anything anyone needs to confess or make right. This is a sweet...and sometimes hard and tearful...time. There have been some nights when it has taken quite a while. I should add, no one is forced, accused or condemned...it is ALL voluntary and comes from each one's heart. Once everything is straight we have communion and say blessings. Then we can pray and eat and TOTALLY enjoy a restful Sabbath with clear consciences. That was one of the sweetest pictures to us about the Sabbath. It is a picture of our salvation...a rest from sin, it is a picture of eternity...a rest from our work on earth AND sin, and it is a gift from God to us each week. After dinner we stay together as a family...reading, singing, sometimes watching an uplifting film, and ending by reading God's word, praying and daddy giving blessings and going to bed for REST! Saturdays are spent resting...doing together things...like a walk, etc. and meeting with other believers. When it is at our place we meet in the upstairs of our barn other times we meet at someone else's place. This past Saturday morning we were awakened early by a telephone call that my dad had been taken to the hospital in the night. (Today he was released...with several tests to be done in the next few days...after having 2 units of blood.) I was thanking the Father that HE had helped me to "Be Still..." on Friday...HIS peace is still here. All day on Friday, during all of the busyness, the LORD had been bringing my dad to mind to pray for him...and even in the night I woke up and prayed and went back to sleep. So, when the call came...it didn't 'feel' like a crisis. Why can't we remember this ALL of the time?!? There are so many to pray for right now...so many walking through hard times...and yet NONE of this takes our GOD by surprise. HE is so faithful. Hallelu Yah!! Having written this about how we spend Sabbath...normally...sometimes we spend it 'not so normally.' We have made choices about how best to serve the LORD...sometimes it means going to serve a family / individual in distress or with special needs, sometimes it means serving by singing/playing for others. After studying God's word we found He had specific guidelines and we do our best to stick to those. We DO NOT believe that any of the ways we have chosen to serve HIM add to or take away from our salvation. Our salvation is/was a free gift from HIM that we receive BY faith and confession ( seeJohn 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9-10), on the contrary all of our 'righteousnesses' are compared to filthy rags. We do believe and can testify that 'keeping' the Sabbath for us helps us 'make it through' our week. It give us a chance to refocus on HIM and His faithfulness and praise Him for all of HIS benefits that He daily pours out upon us. (Psalms 16:6-9, Psalms 136, etc.) Looking ahead...the squares on the calendar are filling up...but, I want to remember to: "Be still... We have two fairly large dinners to set up for, prepare, and clean up (that is the part that some of us aren't as excited about). We also have three playing/singing engagements. " On the "school" front...we have two getting ready to take the ACT, and everyone is moving along nicely in their assignments. We have not yet started a Dickens...I am not sure when we will. We are making a lot of 'gifts'. Julia has made 10 pairs of potholders so far! The fabric is purchased...but the work not begun on baklavas ( a type of hood). I am working on a rather labor intensive cross stitch project and have yet to begin making aprons. We also are planning some soap making evenings. Please remember to pray for the Estes family as they are back at the hospital with Noah...it is SO hard on a family...but once again, none of this takes HIM by surprise. Also continue to remember Josephine and her family. Grief does not 'go away', you DO get through it...NEVER over it and ONLY by God's grace. Please pray for Ellen Foote and her family as they are still grieving the loss of husband, daddy and grandpa in March of this year. Also, the Hoffman family in their loss of wife and mother. It has been an eventful year. Thank you.
Grace and Peace,
Ruth |
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Nov. 17, 2008 - Untitled Comment
As usual, I so enjoyed your post. You had me smiling on the part about your "went to Bible college and your father is a pastor" mother voice. Too funny.
And the same was true for me - the way you stumbled upon realizing this. I was reading the ten commandments to my kids in a children's Bible story book (Arthur Maxwell) and when I read the one about honoring the Sabbath, I was stunned. Really, I was. I didn't remember that was one of the ten commandments.
At that time in our life, Saturday was one of our days that we worked the hardest. Lawn and house work. I wanted to keep the Sabbath, but I didn't know how. So I prayed about it. He's been very faithful and provided the "how." He's helped me to totally re-organize our days of the week to get it all done Monday through Friday. I am much more organized now because of this. And I should say, too, He has sent me a lot of help. We almost always have someone here on the ranch that helps me accomplish everything that needs to be done. But before I had prayed about honoring the Sabbath, we never had any help. I believe my help has been provided in response to my prayer to honor the Sabbath.
That said, though, your Sabbath blows me away. My Sabbath is pale, and very short of yours. I will have to pray some more me thinks. My house is clean by Friday night like yours, but there is always pizza for dinner. Yours sounds sooooo holy. Soooo beautiful. Sooooo like it should be.
Antoinette