On the way to my pet sitting gig, tonight, I saw a beautiful sunset. The following poem is my prayer.
Thank you, Lord, for the beautiful sunset
Your artwork across the sky
Thank you for your love and compassion
Your protection and guidance
Thank you for your Son
Who died on the cross
Thank you for the sun
That sits in the sky
You are a majestic God
I LOVE hot baths! They are very calming to me. One place where I can totally relax and be in the moment. Today after doing some yard work, I decided a hot bubble bath sounded nice. As I was sitting in the tub, I was thinking about baths and how much I enjoy them. Then I thought of my friend, M who hates the thought of baths. She thinks about the fact that when sitting in a bath, you are sitting in dirty water. As I was contemplating her few of things, I started to think about how it was before regular plumbing. A lot of times the families would share the bath water. There was also usually only one bath a week. So think how dirty these people must have been, especially those working in the fields. And then to have to share the water. From what I understand from some books I’ve read, the father was usually last to bathe, but still. And then I started thinking about how this could still be happening in some countries or cultures where there isn’t plumbing or sufficient water for everyone. Then there are some people who have water, but it is unclean.
I started feeling very thankful that if I wanted too, I could take a bath every day. Usually I take showers if I’m in a hurry, like before work. Not only do I have running water, but I also have clean water. Then on top of that, I have the ability to buy bubbles and Epsom salts to put in my bath. I have the time to just sit, relax and think.
I am very thankful for my MANY bath blessings!
Love & Peace
Devin
It’s interesting to me how our perspectives on things change as we get older. I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist church. Friday night at Sundown was the beginning of Sabbath for us. It went until sundown on Saturday. We did all of our cleaning and shopping before Sabbath started. Once Sabbath arrived, my parents would play christian music, usually hymns. They weren’t into the contemporary christian music but the more conservative stuff. I actually enjoy both sides of the spectrum when it comes to Christian music.
Growing up, Sabbath was an annoyance to me a lot of times. I enjoyed it on some level but it also meant I couldn’t go to school functions at the public school during that time. I had to listen to Christian music and watch Christian programs on TV. We could only play Sabbath games and read Sabbath things. As a child, this was annoying as I wanted to rebel and enjoy the Non-Sabbath approved things.
The things I did enjoy about Sabbath was the music. Most Sabbath mornings, I would wake up to a record playing downstairs. I would lay in bed and listen to it before getting up. I loved that feeling in the morning.
There are a lot of things about the Adventist church that I don’t now currently agree with. I’m not going to go into that here. I have my own church now that I feel much more aligned with. I never realized or thought about how much I miss the Sabbath until tonight. I’ve thought about how that is one thing I do agree with the Adventist Church. I believe in the Sabbath but no longer follow it. I feel like God would want me to be in a church that spiritually feeds me, not just because of the Sabbath following.
So tonight I realized just how much I miss the Sabbath. My aunt’s parents are here for the month and they are Adventist. They are listening to Christian music, mostly hymns on the TV. I was in my room, playing on the computer and listening to it. Then I decided to bring my dishes downstairs and V invited me to join them, so I did. It is so peaceful listening to the songs and it takes me back to those early Sabbath mornings, when I was just waking up to the music downstairs.
So it is interesting how my perspective could change so much. The one thing I really enjoy and wish I could follow now about Sabbath, is having the time to slow down. I do that on one of my days off, but not like during Sabbath. I don’t focus on God as much as I would if I actually kept the/a Sabbath.
I need to contemplate this some more. Maybe I could take that day on my day off and use it more like a Sabbath. It’s not the same day every week so it wouldn’t be as consistent but it would at least help me to slow down and focus on God more.
Love & Peace
Devin
Life Matters 