I Do It Too …

SUNDAY NAPS!

As a child, Sunday was the “Day of Rest!” Every Sunday afternoon, our house rested. Some on the couch, others in bed! I don’t think all of us were good nappers, that didn’t matter. Sundays were the “Sabbath” and my parents were taught from their parents that Sundays meant a day of worship, set apart to God and designed for us to rest from labor, cease our efforts and focus on God.

I do recall it was easier to “rest” back then. There were “Blue Laws” … anybody remember that? Businesses were closed on Sunday, except for essential ones. No grocery stores, malls, Lowe’s, etc. opened their doors on Sundays. It seems I remember restaurants were open or at least some and gas stations. Errands could not be done, which made rest easier.

The practice of “Sabbath”, setting aside a day a week to focus on God is a Biblical practice. It was demonstrated at Creation when God created for six days and rested on the seventh. Rest was built into human fabric by God. He made us to rejuvenate, rest, time to allow our bodies to function better the other six days. It’s also a day to get our eyes off of our wants, needs, desires to focus on God, His provision, and ability to care for us.

One day a week to NOT do things! Thus demonstrating your trust and confidence in what He has and will provide: placing your commitment in Him. We show ourselves that we can rest in His care and we are not dependent on our meager efforts to provide and care for ourselves.

“In a society addicted to the twin drugs of accomplishment and accumulation, the Sabbath is an act of resistance.” (practicingtheway.org)

We are resisting society’s structure of importance. Society says accomplish and accumulate. As God’s children, one day of rest says that is not what’s most important to me; God is. It’s practicing your priorities.

My parents tell us of Saturday being the preparation day for Sabbath. Their families did not even cook much on Sunday. They prepared food on Saturday for Sunday, so they could observe rest. Many in the stricter Jewish faith practice something similar today. My parents also used Sunday evenings as visiting time with neighbors and relatives. They fellowshiped, socialized resting from the normal hustle bustle grueling work days of farmers.

All that to say, the practice of a Sunday NAP has not been lost on me!

Around 3 pm every Sunday, my eyelids heavy and my body screams to curl up in bed for a siesta! Even on days “I won’t need one today.” By the time I get home from church, we finish lunch … my bed calls my name. I feel the pull of comfy warm blankets and a hallowed pillow. Sometimes, I almost hear angels sing, as I close the door and nestle in, feeling tension and stress melt away into calm rejuvenation.

Even the past eight months, when church was on a screen and we were home A LOT, my Sunday Nap still called to me. More than ever! The wears of life were bigger and loomed in our homes, large and in charge. Resisting the loud 24/7 emotional intrusions was hard and relentless. I can’t quite explain what a nap does for a troubled soul.

It resets me. It forces me to rest, quit trying and let God take care of me. I take the step to rest my mind and body and allow Him to bring calm and quiet to my spirit with His blessed invention of sleep.

Anybody else learn to “Sunday Rest” or Nap?

Do you still practice it?

Tell me if naps are your friend?
(I know some people are nappers and some aren’t.)

Is there another habit you continue from childhood? What is it?

Good thing my husband isn’t a napper, the entire bedroom is mine! He says riding his bike is his “rest”! OK …. Sure! (Isn’t that an oxymoron?) I don’t have to understand.

By the Way: Our culture has changed the construct of a work-week a lot in the last 100 years. Many people do not have the option of a “Sunday Sabbath”. I don’t feel it’s the details of the practice that matter. It’s the intention of heart/soul.

#sundaynapper,