S8 E46: Are You In Need Of A Snow Day?

Hi, friends. Today's episode is a throwback to an episode that I recorded in the middle of 2020, when life as we all knew it was turned upside down.

But this episode, it recently crossed my mind as I was thinking about snow days and rest that we can find and even choose in winter seasons of our lives. And I hope you enjoy listening.

Hi, everyone. I sure your hope that you're doing well, I am still coming off a fun birthday weekend that I just had.

My husband and I, we decided to take a quick weekend trip to Tennessee so I could see my parents. And it was just so wonderful getting to enjoy a little time with them.

Ron and I enjoyed the drive and listening to some of our favorite podcasts and just having time for lots of great conversations. So it was really a special weekend.

We actually drove through the city that I grew up in. And it's not too far from where my parents live. So we drove by my old house and my church and my school. That's just always so fun for me because I have such great memories in my heart. So it's just really fun to reminisce.

So as I was thinking about what I wanted to share today, I was reminded about something from growing up in Tennessee.

The summers there were hot, and the winters were cold. And we did enjoy the occasional falling of snow, even though it typically didn't last that long unless there was a major winter storm that was blowing through.

So I have some fun memories of playing in the snow. But as I was thinking back, some of the funniest memories are about times when, as kids, we would be staying up late, and probably begged to stay up late.

I just remember it was past our normal bedtime and we would be watching the news. We would just be glued to the television.

And you know how they scroll across the bottom where they list school closings or just reports about counties? And I just remember us being glued to the TV and watching intently for our school name to pass by or our county.

I don't remember now how it was listed, but I could just remember us being glued and just watching as the words would scroll by. and we would just be fervently praying that our school would be called off because of this forecast of snow.

Now, I emphasize the word forecast because that was the great thing about living somewhere where we were surrounded by ridges and hills and mountains because just the probability of ice or snow, it could literally close things down for days. And then we would be thrilled to be blessed with this gift of snow days.

Now, what's funny is this enjoyment of snow days, it continued into my college years. And the difference in my college snow days was that they weren't determined by the weather if you know what I mean.

Typically, someone in our friend group, and when I say friend group, mainly meaning my brother, would deem it a snow day.

And it would just kind of like then pass through all of us, and we would all just follow suit. And we would live as though classes had been canceled, and we were free from all responsibilities that day because it was a snow day.

Now, I have several books that talk about Sabbath, And it made me smile when one of them is written by Pete Cazeros, he stated,

“Sabbath is like receiving the gift of a heavy snow day every week.”

And he says,

“stores are closed, roads are impassable, and suddenly you have the gift of a day to do whatever you want. You don't have any obligations, pressures, or responsibilities. You have permission to play, be with your friends, take a nap, read a good book. Few of us would give ourselves a no obligation day very often, but God gives you one every seventh day.”

He goes on to say

“that God knew that if the people of Israel were to be true to their calling and purpose, that they would need more than weekly Sabbaths, that they would need longer stretches of time to stop and rest, to delight and contemplate him. So what did God do? He built into their national, economic, and political life entire sabbatical years.

He actually commanded Israel to give the land a Sabbath rest one year in every seventh. And you You could find that in Leviticus 25. And since he knew that this would require them to have great faith and trust him for provision, God promised that what they had harvested in year six, it would be enough to feed them for two whole years.”

Is that not incredible?

So it got me thinking, you know, this season, and I've mentioned this, for me, the season that we've been in these last several months, it seems like a worldwide invitation to Sabbath rest.

And it's interesting because even though rest is a big part of that, so is growth. And I think that's what can be confusing at times because, about Sabbath, because rest, a lot of times can be equated to being lazy.

Pure rest is so beneficial for us and it's needed for us to grow and to be healthy and to thrive in every way in our body and in our soul and our spirit.

The invitation is to stop striving, to get comfortable with not having a bazillion places to run off to and all these endless activities. It's an invitation to stop stressing over the need for things to get back to normal and for us to surrender and accept the life that he is offering us at this moment.

It's an invitation for us to get comfortable with just being and not doing all the time.

An invitation to realize that who you are will always be more important than what you do.

But here's the thing that's interesting about invitations. They're not always accepted. And maybe you're not in the mood to accept an invitation to rest.

Maybe you find yourself resisting everything about this moment of uncertainty. And that's fine. It's your choice. All I'm asking is for you to consider the invitation.

The invitation to come home to him and his rhythms of life. Come home to yourself and all that he designed and purposed you for.

An invitation to trust and know that he is your provider and that he can bring forth good fruit from your life in this season as you rest in him.

I'm so thankful for each of you. And I just want you to know that I am cheering you on and I am believing God's best for you in this season.

Keep looking to him. We'll talk soon.