XTREME Sabbath!!!
It was yet another Sabbath Saturday here at the Stevens House.
- A day of Replenishment.
- A day of Play.
- A day of Family.
- A day of No Meetings.
- A day free from Blogs, Emails, Tweets, Texts, and Facebook.
- A day we didn’t think about comments and analytics.
- A day that we worked hard…at resting.
It was a great day.
We love hearing all the different ways that different people Sabbath. So, if you Sabbath, we’d love to know how. And if you don’t, we’d love to know why.
THEY will not suffer for OUR Sacrifice
There is a life altering difference between Sacrifice and Suffering. Sacrifice you choose. Suffering is chosen for you.
Before we finalized with God that we would actually do Soul City, we told Him and committed to each other in no uncertain terms that:
- If our kids’ relationship with God suffers because of this sacrifice we’re making to God…than we will have to walk away.
We know that what we are embarking on as followers of Jesus, as a married couple, as parents, and as leaders will come at great Sacrifice to our lives, plans, and dreams. We get that. We not only accept it, we embrace it. BUT. We shudder to think that this sacrifice that we choose would ever cause our kids to Suffer for something that they did not. We love Soul City Church, but never more than we love God, love each other, and love our kids.
We can’t imagine standing in front of a Soul City Church one day talking about all that God has done while our kids hate God and can’t stand us. We’ve seen it too many times in our own friends families. It doesn’t add up. “Why”, in the words of Andy Stanley, “would we ever choose something that anyone else can do (a church) over something that we only we can do (family)?”
We couldn’t agree more.
Maybe you feel the same, maybe you don’t. We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
Sabbath Saturday
Today, we rest. Today we put down and put away the good and not so good things that occupy our time, thoughts, and efforts. But more than simplyputting these things away, we choose to put them back into the hands of God. The work that is done in us during this day, through this little act of dependence, is far greater than the work we could accomplish in it’s place.
This is a weekly practice that we are trying to incorporate not only into our lives, but into the rhythm of Soul City Church. How does a church work hard and rest well? We hope to find out.
Until Sunday, no texts, no tweets, no email, no blogging. Just God, Family, Friends, Rest, Play.
Discussion :: How about you? Do you Sabbath? Should you? Will you? What does / will it look like?
