Preparation Day

I have long heard it said that...

A Failure to Plan is a Plan to Fail

I experienced that last Sabbath. Let's just say, it wasn't pretty like the others. Why, you ask? I wasn't prepared!

So here is how it works...the Sabbath officially begins at Sunset on Friday evening. Friday day is known as "Preparation Day." As my friend so wisely instructed me...you clean your house and prepare everything as if you are having very important company for dinner. Your company is Jesus. On top of the house cleaning, you prepare your dinner and challah (bread) ahead so that you are not scrambling at the last minute. And since the Sabbath lasts through sun-down on Saturday...you prepare everything you will need for Saturday as well. That is a lot of preparation! But the reward...lots of rest! I have said since the very first Sabbath we celebrated ~ I will gladly put in the extra work Sun - Fri if it means that I get a day of real rest on Saturday. The problem comes when you don't get the work done.

Last week was weird...Joshua had a severe allergic reaction on Tuesday when we were in the city. I spent the rest of the week in some sort of "funk" as a result. I let the circumstances get to me. I was physically and emotionally tired and I excused my own laziness. As the Sabbath approached, I told myself I would do as much as I could but not stress over it...after all...it isn't a legalistic thing. I would still take my "rest" on Friday eve and Saturday...even though I hadn't prepared for it. Sadly, the result was anything but restful.

One major complicating factor is that...before I became convicted to keep the Sabbath...I committed to a sign language class for the kids...in the city (90 miles away) on Friday afternoon. Knowing what I know now...I won't do that again! Our class puts us home about 4pm which is plenty of time to finish last minute preparations...but hardly enough time to do it all. I now know that I need to move our preparation day to Thursday, preparing as much as I can so that Friday is not so hectic. Today we are cleaning and I am prepping my food as much as I can. I am making chicken cacciatore and homemade french bread for dinner tonight (Thursday). I will also cook my beef tonight for beef with mushrooms for our Sabbath meal. I can cook my rice ahead as well so that I just have to reheat it tomorrow night (when we get home from class). We will have leftover challah for breakfast on Saturday and egg salad on toast for lunch. We boiled eggs and made the egg salad yesterday. For dinner, on Saturday night, we are having a crcokpot dinner that includes ground beef and vegetables. I will cook the beef for that today and assemble the vegetables in the crockpot tomorrow morning before we leave for class. That way, all I have to do is plug in the crockpot Saturday morning and all of our meals are ready.

I know that may sound ridiculous to some of you...but the result is so worth it. Do you know what I do on the Sabbath? I rest. A mom of three little ones...resting and playing with her kids. Enjoying fellowship with them for the glory of Elohim (God). I do not do dishes or chores. We each rinse our own plate and put it in the dishwasher. Dishes that need to be washed by hand go into the sink to soak until after the Sabbath. On Saturday, we usually eat on paper towels for breakfast and lunch if we can. I do not do laundry or clean (unless there is a spill or something, ya know). And you know what...nobody dies because mom rests! I spend the day reading the Word with the kids, playing Bible games, watching Bible movies (ok, that is translated Veggie Tales, but thats ok), and enjoying Yahweh's glorious creation (hiking, etc...which will be a lot easier when it is spring/ summer). Oh yeah, and naps! We ALL take naps.

Last week, I failed to be prepared and I failed to rest as a result. I was grumpy and unsettled because I hadn't finished my work. My husband came home from work to a disaster and and a frazzled mom. Not a good witness to my observing the Sabbath! This week, I will work hard to be prepared for my rest. And it will be glorious!

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the YHWH's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
¹⁴ then you will find your joy in YHWH,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.
Isaiah 58:13-14

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.
Hebrews 4:9-10