Sabbath Day! I consider it my 24-hour weekly vacation. I love how God included Sabbath Day as a “command” for His people to refrain from tilt-a-whirl living. He instructs us to honor Him as Creator one day every week. This week, I used Sunday to take an unexpected walking retreat.
We live in a town that offers plenty of sidewalks, quiet neighborhoods, sitting spaces, and parks. I’m reading The One Thing by Gary Keller. With the sunshine and breeze, I chose to be outside to dig deeper into the pages of this incredible read! I grabbed the book and my journal and walked to the pond behind our complex.
I found a bench in the most direct sunlight to read. I wondered if unknowingly I had morphed into some Left Behind series because it was 11:00, nobody was outside, breezes were gentle, and the atmosphere held a mysterious hush. Generally, this scenario is my heaven on earth. I felt unsettled because I’ve reluctantly grown accustomed to an arena of ring tones, loud talking, bleeps, and buzzes.
I read a few pages of The One Thing and left the bench intending to return home to crochet. Instead, I walked to the neighboring subdivision and sat at the gazebo. I continued reading and this chapter discussed forced willpower and needlessly trying to accomplish mind-over-matter. I got so excited about Gary Keller’s teaching that I power walked home to tell my husband about these eureka insights!
Tig had already left for the swimming pool to work out his body kinks and back pains. Instead of being bummed that he wasn’t home, I trekked to another nearby park gazebo and journaled about these newfound discoveries from the book. I wrote feverishly until I “emptied” my thought container. I walked to a nearby ballpark and sat on a bleacher to pan for more literary gold from The One Thing treasure chest.
This three-hour walk-and-read, walk-and-journal pattern nourished me until my stomach was empty, and my bladder was full. As I headed home to get a snack, water, and restroom break, I turned my face upward and thanked God for writing a weekly retreat into His commandments. I energetically accept His request!
Puddle jumping with joy to learn and live from the FROG Blog, Christina