C!C weekly

So the Celebration Church sends out a mass email weekly and I got to be the writer for it this week! :) I wanted to share it so here it is:

Hey y'all!

This is Meg here -- I have probably met most of you, so you probably know that I am now half way done with my time here in Ottawa.   I can hardly believe it! So, with some time under my belt, I've been often asked what I am learning, what are people like here, how's the food/weather ...  every question in the book. I often want to be able to give the perfect answer of what God is teaching me; however, contrary to my expectations of coming here, there is more of a lack of what He's "teaching" me. Instead I am getting to EXPERIENCE everything He wants me to learn, thus not giving me so many words but rather knowledge: resting, patience, freedom, transparency, Godly households, and parenting to name specifically some of them.

The one I want to elaborate on is rest, namely taking a Sabbath. So practically speaking how do you take a Sabbath? There is so much to do: school, work, kids, shopping, laundry, cleaning; the list continues. I can honestly say before coming here, in the 5 wonderful years of knowing Christ I have never taken a day to just rest; cease from normal life to reflect on Him. I am going to pick on the Byers for a moment. Since I coming to live with them, each Monday they call their Sabbath 'family day'. This is where we spend time together not working, or doing errands; just resting or spending time together as a family and spending extra time meditating on the Lord (or having dance parties to His name!). This concept was totally new to me and to be honest I had not a clue what to do with it myself! Now when I go back to school this will look drastically different (though the dance parties WILL happen in my dorm) because obviously some things you genuinely can't not do. However, we students can strive to have school work completed for Monday by Saturday, and laundry can be done during the week, and household obligations Friday night instead of Sunday afternoon. There are small things we just have to intentionally put on another day so that one day a week we can do what the Lord commands us to do . . . and rest.

"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
Exodus 20:11

If you already do this - then that is awesome! However I know personally this is something that is not as prevalent in society, even among Christians. So I encourage you to evaluate your lifestyle and just try a Sabbath once . . . fully. Once you genuinely do it, you will be encouraged to do it again and again!

So pick a day. Tell the family. And get to resting!

Your Mississippian sister in Christ,

Meg