Taking a Sabbath

Friday is my sabbath in a sense. Every other day of the week is go-go-go, including Sundays because I work for the Church.  I am a part-time employee so I take Tuesday and Friday off.  Tuesdays are full of doctors appointments or play group or play dates. But Friday, Friday is my sacred day.  

No alarm clock. No agenda.

Evie and I get to sleep in and do whatever we want.

I make sure the day is about us and taking it slow.

Today I woke up at 6:00, 30 minutes before I usually do during the week (why God, why?) but I laid in bed reading until 8:00am.  Evie had no sign of waking (okay, thank you God!).  She was exhausted from a busy week of school.

I dragged myself out of bed, threw on some workout clothes and put my hair in a pony tail + headband for a dead sexy look.

What to do today?

I decided that Evie and I both needed some fresh air and Vitamin D straight from the source.  A nice long walk it would be.

A co-worker gave me a $31 gift card to Starbucks for my 31st birthday.  There is a Starbucks within walking distance from our house.  The perfect Fall morning destination.

About 8:30 Evie woke up. I put her in an equally awesome outfit (purple shorts with an americana hair bow, her choice) and threw her in the jogger.

Scratch that. She put her blanket in the jogger and insisted on pushing “blankie. stroller. mommy. Evie do it.”

Okay.  Whatever. I huffed to myself.

And this was the start of a much needed realization.

I was frustrated with my almost-two-year-old because she wanted to put her blanket in the stroller and push it, while I wanted my breakfast sandwich and coffee...like yesterday.

But why?  Seriously?  We had nothing to do today.  Why was I rushing this creative, learning moment for her?  Because I wanted a cup of coffee?  Seriously, Elizabeth, get over yourself.

So I let her alternate pushing the stroller and running down the sidewalk. When we got to the main road to leave the neighborhood, I insisted she ride in the stroller.  Off we went.  No timeline and it was fabulous.

We got to the coffee shop and it was slammed. The manager (a friend of mine) kept apologizing for the wait.

Again, it hit me, why was I so anxiously waiting for my coffee?  It’s just coffee.

Finally our drinks and sandwiches were up.  My intention was to enjoy them on our walk to Kohls and Michaels, but I thought… “Let’s sit here and eat”

So we did.  We sat on the patio for almost an hour.  I sipped my latte.  Evie meticulously ate her sandwich.

We just sat.  We soaked it all in.  The fall leaves, the cooling weather, the puppies sticking out of car windows in the drive thru line.

For the first time in what seems like months, I just sat and enjoyed my daughter’s company.

So this is it.  This is what the sabbath was made for.  Rest. Family. Time in God’s creation. She and I took in easy.  Because really, why did I feel the need to rush?  We had no where to be, nothing to do.

We wandered through some nearby shops.  We perused the clearance racks and stacked our coupons (birthday gift and t shirt for $2.38? yes, please). And on the way home I let Evie pick up leaves in the neighborhood while practicing her colors (everything is still “a geen one”)

I needed this morning more than I knew.  It reminded me how precious time is and how there really is nothing more important in this life than spending time with our family.

God gave us the sabbath every seventh day for us to do this.  But how often do we all blow through it?  Home improvement projects, grocery store runs, and maybe, if we’re lucky, a quick family dinner.

After today I want to cherish my Fridays, my sabbath,  by taking them slow and easy, with intentional time spent just with Evie -- no agenda, no place to be, nothing to rush through.