Week Two: Deep Calling Deep

Our oldest son was convinced that our Sunday drive was just too long, "How much longer?" he asked in utter boredom.

"Why are you in despair, O my soul? and why have you become disturbed within me?" (Psalm 42:5)

At least, so sayeth the holy writ. "About an hour...more or less. Just sit back and enjoy the ride," so sayeth his dad.

On the way, we made a quick stop at the small-town candy store fore some hard-core hiking food.  I asked the cashier ringing up our gummy worms and gummy planes if she knew where the secret waterfall was in, "these parts."

"Yes," she said. "But it is on private property and you can't go there."

"Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence." (Psalm 42:6)

Undeterred, off we went into the wild blue yonder to discover the beautiful, hidden cavalcade.  According to one blogger, it was one of the "top 12" most scenic waterfalls in all the nation. "Sweet," I thought as our middle son passed me the nearly-completely finished bag of gummy planes. 

It was with great anticipation we turned down the road less-traveled upon. We had found it! Our research had led us to this exact spot.  We peered over the breath-taking cliff and saw the semi-circular outline of the broad waterfall...just the outline.  A string of hot dry days had dried the current to a drip.

"O my God, my soul is in despair within me; therefore I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar." (Psalm 42:7)

We had come too far to give up. We would not give up.  We had to figure out how to get to the bottom of the falls. "Maybe there is part of it we can't see," my wife said optimistically.  We finally found a trail that led to the falls far below. It was shady and cool and green and we imagined an earlier trip to the Pacific Northwest.  We could almost hear the roar of the cataract as we stood 20 feet  below it on the rocky, dusty, river-bed.

Our two little boys scrambled over the dry boulders and quickly found a "fortress". Our oldest son fell silent, sitting by his mother and father, surely feeling the same disappointment we were. We sipped our water, soaked in the sun, and watched a solitary eagle glide high over head.

"Deep calls to deep at the sound of thy waterfalls; all they breakers and Thy waves have rolled over me." (Psalm 42:7)

Before we left, we made a rock pylon, swam in the lake above the "falls," and promised each other to come back...after some rain.  As we headed back to town, our oldest son fell asleep, our youngest son sang a made-up song, and our middle son worked away on some Lego's he had carried along for the ride.

Later that night, during "family devos," our middle son shared with us from Genesis 1:12 on how God created the plants and the trees.  Impromptu.  Our little one munched on some popcorn while seated on his mommy's lap. Contentus.  And our oldest son said, "I know that there wasn't any water, but that was still a pretty fun family adventure." Admiratio.

"The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His son will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life." (Psalm 42:8)

That is the promise: God speaks when we are still. Even in the driest places.

Church Stopping: Less Doing. More Being.

First photo from www.sxc.hu #1294473

Above photo by Jennifer Snook

Week One: Wind Over Troubled Waters

"And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters." --Genesis 1:2

Our plan for Sabbath had become "formless and void."

Our plan to spend Sunday afternoon searching out a secret waterfall was sabotaged by a church meeting. Plan B was to have a Saturday Sabbath (it's been done before!) but I was suddenly called in to work, our middle son was invited to a friend's house to play, my wife had an afternoon hair appointment, and our youngest son has a birthday coming up and we needed to make some party preparations.

"Darkness was over the surface of the deep..."

In addition, there was a lawn to be mowed, chickens to be fed, and we were in the middle of our kitchen backsplash tiling project. We didn't know it then, but, the "Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters."  I was just grumpy and dark as I left for work.

When I came home from, we sat down and had dinner together as a family.  My wife had prepared another tasty and healthy meal for her family.  I was feeling a little better.  Afterwards, she joined me in cleaning up after dinner (this is usually my job) and we discussed how we could redeem this Sabbath for our family. The lawn could wait. The tiling could wait. The trip to the secret waterfall could wait. We decided, instead, to take those precious hours right after church, and before our meeting, to spend time individually with our kids. I played Legos with our oldest. My wife read to the youngest two. Then we rotated. I colored a sheep, a turtle, and a snail with our youngest and was soundly beaten in chess by our eight-year old!  The five of us discovered a beautiful garden spider living in our garden. It was a glorious afternoon.

And we began to feel the Spirit of God move.

The church meeting was at our home.  It went longer than we thought it would, but the boys were happily playing on their own, each having already had individual time with Mom and Dad. When the meeting was over, we talked, as a family, about our week.

Now, the Spirit was really moving.

We had a family devotion based on Psalm 8 and talked about how much bigger and better God is than we sometimes think. Each of us was given a challenge for the coming week to discover something that reminds us of how much bigger and better God is then we previously thought and be prepared to share that discovery next Sunday...after the trip to the waterfall.

The Spirit was palpable now!

I made some of my famous popcorn, and we watched a movie...well, I watched most of the movie and napped during part of it.  We tucked the kids in and went to bed so happy that I barely woke up during the lightning, the rain, and the wind last night.

After all, I knew that God was blowing over the surface of the waters.

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.

Photo from www.sxc.hu #734846

52 Weeks of Sabbath

I believe that the practice of Sabbath is at the center of our life together as a church and our life together with Christ. Without Sabbath, we simply cannot experience a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I really do believe that.

That being said, I don't have it figured out.  I don't know where this will lead. All I know is that I am being led and I don't want to stay in this place. I want to be where the Good Shepherd leads me and I believe, if I seek the Lord, through valleys and beside still waters, I might just understand my place in this world a little better and see more clearly what it means to dwell in the house of the Lord.

I hope that in this "52 Weeks of Sabbath", your relationship with Christ and his church are deepened and strengthened along with mine. So, stop by if you can. Share what you have learned and we will walk this road together.

Jubilee blessings,

Geoff

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More being

Photo from www.sxc.hu #260130