July 6, 2017

Greetings My Friend,

I have to admit I had a tiny bit of understanding in regards to Sabbath rest. It made sense and I felt that overall Sunday was my day to attend church, bring my focus back to God and then do whatever else came to mind, mainly take care of a family when my children were young, visit grandparents and volunteer with the youth at church. When I married Junior we went to Sunday school and services, had lunch many weeks with friends from church, napped and then went back to church for a few years. After cancer though I started slowing down and Sunday afternoon and evenings were for long naps. Here in Virginia we have been going to Sunday school, services, nap all afternoon and then return for Bible study, I love my Sundays. As my disease was getting worse before I had a diagnosis and medication we stopped evening Bible study. Now that I have medication that helps me return to a some of the energy I had we attend evening Bible study again. Both Junior and I sleep a few hours before we go back. For the past week or so I have found a better time to walk, which is in the evenings. Since the raspberries are ripe I pick them in place of a walk, it is relaxing. When I am finished, I sit on the porch for an hour, sometimes more, sometimes less and I feel myself taking in the awe of God's creation. We don't see deer or rabbits, or even squirrels because of the dogs but the greenery is astounding, the sky is beautiful. I am relaxing in ways I have never known before. After we had evening Bible study on Sunday they had a tribute for the veterans at the Methodist church so Junior and I attended the program, enjoyed the music and poems that were read. By the end of the service my back was freezing up so we did not stay for ice cream, which we don't eat due to allergies. When we got home, I grabbed a bite to eat and headed out to do some raspberry picking. Daisy got brave when I let her out of my walker, she explored the back yard. Junior came along for the picking too, he did a lot of trimming of the blackberry bushes. When we finished we sat on the porch for a good long while talking, watching the night sky appear with the dogs all around us sleeping on the porch, even the cats pulled up a piece of the porch. In the midst of all of this I started to understand what a Sabbath rest is. Sabbath rest on Sunday is important to focus on God, Jesus and His gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit's promptings in my heart. God rested on the 7th day from His labor setting the example for us later He taught us in the 10 commandments to rest on the Sabbath. It came to me that taking small Sabbath rests during the week is important as well. Since moving to the mountains and the forests though I find that my spirit has had a chance to let go of some of the junk that resided in me. Some people use the morning wake up with coffee time to connect with their soul, make plans for the day etc. Allergies and asthma keep me inside in the mornings. I do devotions first thing and love that very much, I study the Word, look up meanings of words, check out the maps and enjoy this time to dig deeply into the Word. For the past week or so though I have discovered nightly time reflecting on my day, the lessons, the beauty that surround me and in all of this I am quieter, calmer. I believe I have discovered a mini Sabbath rest a time of absorbing God's hand in and on my life. I have used the TV since retirement to entice me to work, to stop and rest. I taught myself to work when commercials came on, soon I had enough energy to be on my feet for an hour or more. Next I started waiting to turn the TV on at the end of my day, many times I dozed off to sleep. With this last medication increase, I am able to take an afternoon nap, do work before and after then I rest in my walk/raspberry picking and porch sitting. God has given me these to help me and now He invites me to view the beauty He has created. This summer the porch has been clear of major construction tools, I am able to move about it without tripping and life is awesome. I am growing old with Junior in a house God sent us to and we are resting our spirit's in God's loving arms.May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet