Summer Sabbath

As school winds down, I get really wound up. My head’s spinning like a top, and my legs want to take me in five different directions at once because that’s precisely where I need to be—somebody, clone me! There are room parent responsibilities, after school hobbies, graduate school, conferences, articles, Pinterest-pressure and more. All good things. Wonderful things. Things I’ll look back on with enormous, heart-swelling gratitude. The only trouble with all these important things is that, in this hectic season, they don’t leave room for the All-Important. Good things are getting in the way of the best thing. And this mama needs Sabbath.

God gave us Sabbath as a gift: “And Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for (wo)man, not (wo)man for the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27)

I ask, then, who are we to refuse God’s rest?

As summer looms near with its promise of repose, I’m reclaiming my life. I need to unravel this tangle-of-too-much before it unravels me. For the love of God and family, I want to buck the bucket list and build sandcastles with my kids, dodge the day camps and camp out under the stars, pray just long enough to listen for the still, small voice deafened by frenetic life. I’m declaring a summer Sabbath. I hope you, weary one, will join me in getting deliberate about rest and rejuvenation.

THE SUMMER SABBATH

MORNING SNUGGLE VS. STRUGGLE: No more morning obligations! Summer offers sleepy, pajama-clad mornings. To make the most of them, invite your kids to storm your bed at an agreed-upon time each morning for prayers and devotions. What a beautiful way to frame the day the Lord has made.

PICKING PLAY OVER PROGRAMS: We have to let go the paradigm that opting out is missing out. Studies show that kids who play, romp, create and learn the art of boredom-management are happier than over-programmed kids. Instead of scheduling programs into empty calendar space, protect the joys of childhood. This summer, pick play over programs.

WINDING DOWN, NOT UP: Think midday siesta, not fiesta. I always marveled at the riposo in Italy, when the streets emptied, the shops closed and all settled in for a long afternoon rest. Our family’s been practicing the art of the summer riposo for years, snatching a two-hour quiet time in the afternoons around 2:00. Kids can read, draw, build or rest in their rooms, and Mom gets some much-needed solitude (resist the urge to fold laundry!).

HOME VS. ROAM: We’re so tempted to hit everything on our bucket lists that we use them to whack ourselves over the head. This must stop. Two days a week, I implore you to stay in the neighborhood. Ride bikes, hit the pool or park and sip a glass of lemonade with the next-doors as the kids cartwheel through sprinklers. Imagine visiting with neighbors! Let’s revive the lost art of raising children in community.

Wendy Connelly is a mother of two and graduate student at St. Paul School of Theology, Leawood.