I love Mondays. My weekends typically consist of a a wedding on Saturday, church on Sunday and rest on Monday. Mondays are our sabbath. They are a “day of rest”. I don’t do E-mail, phone calls, or editing. It’s a day to enjoy the wife, the kids, and the life I have been blessed with.
One of my favorite places to eat is also big on taking a day off. I know this has happened to you. You’re hungry, you know what you want, you pull into the drive through giddy that the line is not long and then you realize… It’s Sunday. Chick-Fil-A is closed. A restaurant closed on Sunday. The busiest out to eat day of the week and they are closed. It’s basically like me saying I’m a wedding photographer who does not shoot Saturday weddings. Chick-Fil-A is so convinced that people need a day of rest that they are willing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year for it. I figure I can skip a few Monday voicemails. Right?
It has not always been like this for our house but back in 2004 I heard a talk by a guy named Rob Bell. He talked about just how important rhythm and rest were to our bodies. He talked of the importance of slowing down. The idea resonated with us and we were hooked. At first taking a day off was hard. I really do love my job so editing, learning, and shooting are never things I dread. Taking a break is not always easy. You have to “plan” for a day of nothing. (Example: I wrote this post on Thursday.) Little by little though I have been able to “turn off” the part of my brain that likes to work and create.
Our kids LOVE Sabbath. It’s a day when they know Danielle and I are both fully present. They know that we are theirs and phone calls or Facebook won’t pull us away. We are completely emerged in them and we play harder that day than any other day of the week. It’s how I refill my creativity so that I can pour all of it out the following week.
List of things that are “Sabbathy”
Legos
Bubbles
Cake
Tea Parties
Video Games
Dates
Trampolines
Some “non-Sabbathy” things
E-mail
Laundry
Editing your amazing wedding images
Facebook
iPhones
Paying bills
Your list may look different. You may not even have a list. This whole post may seem like a crazy ridiculous stupid idea to you. That’s OK, you don’t have to do this. My advice though is try it for 3 months. Set aside a day of rest. No talking about work, no doing it, no E-mail. Want to go really crazy? Don’t think or plan about your wedding. It may seem impossible, but you can go 24 hours without looking at a color swatch. You’ll be amazed how refreshed and eager you are to jump back into the planning if you take little time off from it. Like I said, you may think I’m crazy, but all I know is Mondays are my favorite day of the week.
5 comments
Fantastic post. This definitely rings true with me on the weekends. Mental rest is more important than physical rest. Our bodies know how to rest very easily, but our minds have a tough time.
What a great post, so very very true. Our modern culture does not know how to truly rest with the ever present media, its nearly impossible to escape it. But it’s so very necessary to take a break and relish in the important things of life. And it’s wonderful to hear that bubbles and legos are important to you. You are obviously a wonderful dad
Thank you for the Monday reminder (and yes, I agree that this applies to wedding planning too. Take a break for your fiance, the person you are getting ready to marry… and have some fun!)
Love it! So many of our Sundays are jam-packed with church, laundry and groceries that there is no rest at all. This is a great example of a true Sabbath.
Great post. I don’t think many people understand the importance of sabbath.
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