A quote for Monday...

This quote was sent to me yesterday by a much loved active member of my church, it really struck a "chord" with me...  (chord - a pun he will smile at lol)

"God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your ‘thorn’ uncomplainingly — that is, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak — is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace."
― J.I. Packer

Sabbath

I'm loving my sabbath. Now don't get me wrong I'm a newbie of sorts to the concept. You see I've read a little about it, understand the theory and it's importance but implement it... No, not often. I've been struggling with heavy fatigue of late I'm not sure what it's about but it can be severe. I mean the struggle to think straight type of fatigue, one that interrupts the little coordination I have and can even rob me of the ability to use my full vocabulary. My mind searches for names and words but it just can't find the right file.

Well, anyway, I've recently felt God challenge me to stop allowing my work to bleed its way across the seven days of my week and to ensure that at least one is ring fenced off for Him.  Now I appreciate that there are some seasons in life when this may not be possible (I certainly have had a few) but for me in 2015 and with the lack of family responsibilities I have no excuse. My sabbath can't be a Sunday because as part of our church staff team I work so I've chosen Thursday. I've been letting people know I'm off and I've started shutting down distractions like social media for the day (as much as an addict like myself can lol) so time can't be meaninglessly wasted.

Today I've bathed in scriptures, read two chapters of a novel, practised guitar (yes yet another new hobby), walked the dog two luxurious miles down the beach, had a beautiful picnic lunch, had coffee with my wife, sneaked a snooze and talked to God as I've journey through it.

This is only my second week of establishing a sabbath but already I can't remember what I did before with my Thursdays and for the life of me I can't figure out why I haven't been doing this all along! I'd encourage anyone to ask what does sabbath mean to them in the season they are in, you'll not regret it.

Ps Its good to be back in the land of blog...