An unexpected Sabbath

The ancient Hebrews worked, no doubt, long hours of hard labor to provide food, shelter and safety for themselves and their families. But they had a wise God and He gave them strict instructions; on the seventh day...you must REST. Somehow, in this crazy 24/7 world of ours, we have lost sight of that Sabbath...that day of rest. I know that as a children's photographer and small business owner, I have often allowed myself to get sucked into the endless list of to-dos and have gone for weeks or even months at a time without taking a day off to rest. I have worked hard to build my business, to provide excellent customer service, to be on-call when I am needed. It all comes at a cost.

One day last fall, God decreed, through a fallen tree limb, that I MUST take a Sabbath. I had sent off my four children with their daddy to Giant's game and settled down in my office chair to finish up the work I needed to do on my mini sessions so that I could meet my Monday deadline. I had almost 8 hours ahead of me of child-free work time to get it all done. Never mind that I had worked everyday for the last 13 days...I have a deadline; period. As I settled in I heard the looming sound of my backup surge protection system beeping that I must power down within 6 minutes...5 minutes...3 minutes...or lose everything I had open. The power to our home was out.

At first, I didn't even know what to do with myself. I had no kids, no computer, no WORK. I went crazy; cleaning up my office, organizing my studio cupboards, loading the dishwasher. I sorted laundry and tried to start a load...only to remember that EVERYTHING takes electricity! All the while I was thinking; I have a deadline, I am going to be up all night. After a couple of hours my house and studio were spotless, my laundry ready to go...and my power, still out. It would not come on for another six hours.

What happened after that was a God-given gift. My family returned home just as the light outside was fading and our home was growing dark. Brian built a fire in the outside fire pit and we lit candles all about the house. I snuggled the baby by the fire before settling her down to bed in her candle-lit room. Then tucked my two school-agers into their "beds" on the living room floor (too scary to sleep in a dark bedroom alone) after reading them a stack of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" books by the light of my teenager's Nintentdo DS. I then retired to the back patio to sit around the campfire with Brian and Tyler, my eldest. We had a nice quiet visit together, chatting about his upcoming first day as a high-schooler as we watched the mesmerizing flames. Tyler headed off to bed and Brian and I settled in for a much-needed romantic evening by candlelight. Before the lights came on and my computer powered up to call my name...we fell asleep, snuggled together in our warmly-lit room. It was heaven.

Sometimes God has to MAKE us do what He knows we need to do. We don't always listen to gentle prodding. But I vowed from that day forward to do a better job remembering the "Sabbath", and to, from time to time, unplug and recharge. It is always worth it.

An original post to Silicon Valley Moms Blog.