July Update

 

This month has been really sweet! I got to see my family at the beginning of the month in South Texas to celebrate my grandma's birthday. It was really refreshing to see my family in such a beautiful place. The area we went to had some of the biggest trees in Texas and the river was absolutely gorgeous.

Our church has been talking about Sabbath this summer and it has been a really neat experience to incorporate into our weekly schedule. Sabbath as a place to stop, rest, delight and worship. Here is the first video we watched as a part of our sabbath small group series, if you are interested in finding out more. 

Exhaustion is a spiritual problem. It is difficult to love God when we are tired and even harder to love people when we are tired. This video series talks about sabbath being our weekly identity formation. A place where we remember what is true about ourselves. We are not people who are slaves to work or a corporation. We belong to God and so we turn to God to tell us what is true about ourselves. Resting is an act of resistance against the twin 'gods' of accomplishment and accumulation. We have to believe the words "I have enough, I am enough, God is enough.' 

Sabbath Dinner with my small group

I have found it hard to stop and rest in the Lord. I feel so much pressure to keep moving, to do more, to have more, to be more and I have noticed this even more in practicing times of sabbath where I am actively pushing back against those things. I fall into the lie that I am only valuable if I am able to be this or that thing. I fall into the lie that I am valuable to others because of what I can do to and for them, but because of who God has made me to be. I notice those feelings of shame come up and I self soothe with things other than God. Rather than real rest, I turn to a shabby substitute. 

me and my friend Lenore sorting through some gifted baby clothes

I cut myself off from the joy that the Lord wants to give us. Joy is not inevitable, it is something we have to choose. It is a discipline to celebrate what God has given us. I pray that you can slow down this summer, cast aside what the world is telling you about your identity and live in the delight and worship of the Lord. 

If you are in Denton or the Austin Areas and want to come to my baby shower, you are welcome to show up! Here is the info!