Understanding the Importance of Sabbath Rest in a Busy World

In today's episode we examine the dark reality of oppressive work cultures in countries like Japan, the US, and the UK, which compels people to risk their health and lives. But did you know there's no proven correlation between overworking and enhanced productivity? As startling as it seems, this realization introduces us to the critical concept of a Sabbath rest - a day devoted to self-care, a manifestation of faith in God, which we'll delve into more in upcoming episodes.

Finally, we unwrap the blessings inherent in observing the Sabbath. Far from an ordinary day off, the Sabbath is about holistic rest - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually - all while focusing on God. Listen in as Cheri and I narrate our personal journeys and discuss how the Sabbath day's observance refreshes us for the week ahead. It's not a punishment, but a blessing that connects us to God's work in our lives.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:19

Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, kara Arha, and with me is the lovely and beautiful and talented and skillful Sherry Swalwell. How are you today, sherry?

Speaker 2: 0:34

I am doing fantastic, which is very surprising, because normally I don't like just the beginning of the school year. I really don't Like. I love our summers, I love the pace, the pace of summer. So this year it has been crazy busy and crazy fast. But God has taught me so much so I am thrilled about all the different things that he's allowed us to get done. Last summer I was dealing with burnout and so I had zero creativity. This summer, I think God's made up for it because I have like triple creativity there's more stuff in my brain wanting to come out than I have time to get out. But I am like well, I love fall. So it's really a catch-22 for me. It's getting back into the school habit, but I love fall. So, yeah, I am fantastic today. How are you doing?

Speaker 1: 1:32

You know, just no complaints. It's storming but, like I've mentioned in previous podcasts, for some reason I'm like looking forward to stormy days. It used to be, I wanted all the sunny days, but now, I don't know, I find peace in the storms that happen and they actually help me relax. I don't get it, so that's a blessing. But it's interesting that you mentioned going, the school season starting and things like that, because I can remember both of my boys or adults now, both of my men are adults now and I thought the first part of their schooling like elementary school and for my oldest a little bit of middle school, but just for my youngest, just elementary school they were in either public or private schooling and then after that I moved them into homeschooling.

Speaker 1: 2:39

But I remember that, no matter which way you do it public, private homeschooling the busyness that comes with that, right, you're either having to shop and you're having to pick up school supplies. You have all these before school meetings I can't think what they're called now, right, or they're PTA meetings. No, they're not really PTA meetings. Before Meet the teacher type stuff, right. Open houses yes, that's it. Okay. Yeah, it's like.

Speaker 1: 3:14

I said it's been a while. Open houses and making sure they have all the supplies, and you go from relaxing summers to busy mornings and it's just. It's a what's the word? It's a quiet hustle, almost right, no matter which way your kids are doing it. And it could be a lot, you know, not just for us as parents, but for the kids as well. And fall always symbolizes that to me the kids going back to even though I don't have, you know, young children anymore. It just always reminds me of that, like re-entering back into the school days. You know the busyness that comes with it for those who still have young children, or you know what? Even college-age kids, right, because most a lot of them come home for the summer.

Speaker 2: 4:11

Right.

Speaker 1: 4:12

Yes, a lot of them come home for the summer and you're helping them go back to school sometimes and driving them to and from or getting packing up their car. It just becomes a lot and it's definitely a lot for the kids but it's also a lot for the mom and dad. So it's that chaos. And then you know, in September at least when my kids were in school, september academically for them when school started it was much more of a review time, right, because kids forget so much during the summer that September is like meet the teacher, get used to your class review time. So school technically doesn't really start to October. Is it kind of that way with the school system in your area?

Speaker 2: 5:00

It is. But when our youngest went to kindergarten I'm actually really good friends with his kindergarten teacher now, Like I think every single teacher he's had I've stayed really good friends with but I remember she said that the first month of school they didn't even touch academics. They worked on social skills, they worked on getting to know each other, they worked on learning the rules, they worked on building up the community, because once they had that relationship built, then the academics came so much easier. I thought, oh my goodness, I absolutely love that idea, I love that concept. We need to put that into practice in other areas too, Like what if, when you first get married, what if you take that first year and you just really focus on getting to know each other, on learning how to live together, on learning each other's corks and what he loves and what he doesn't love, and what she loves and what she doesn't love? And okay, this one's a hot button, so we stay away from this one or we work to a friend, or calmer.

Speaker 2: 6:12

What if we really truly, what if, when you bring home a new baby, whether it's through adoption or birth, what if you take that first month and really just do nothing but get to know the new dynamics of the family? Like, wouldn't the world, wouldn't society be so much better if we allowed ourselves to have that time to build that strong foundation?

Speaker 1: 6:39

Absolutely. You know and I know, like maybe I guess I could say I haven't looked at any statistics or anything like that but I think the normal newlywed couple takes what maybe two weeks off from work you know, and if that right and I'm like man can you imagine what would happen if you could actually take two months, I don't know, and or three?

Speaker 1: 7:08

actually, actually, I think 90 days is key, with not having to go to work, not having to worry about work, none of that, just 90 days, getting used to your spouse, right, and just your whole world. You know your world. You're focused on your, the husbands are focused on the wife and the wife is focused on the husband. You know, because there's a groove that has to be found, right, it's like there's. There's like this natural groove that needs to be found. So I completely agree with you that if we did that, then I just think that would be.

Speaker 2: 7:51

I think a lot more like marriages would last as well too, you know, and it's so interesting that you say that, because that kind of goes right into the topic of what we're going to talk about for this whole new series. Have you heard of the term carotry? It's a jazz word, so carotry means death from overwork. Did you know?

Speaker 1: 8:13

What.

Speaker 2: 8:14

Yeah, so in Japan it is a thing and they actually had to name it. They named it carotry. It has. It's the earth. Sorry, I whoever is listening to us and I am mass occurring this word. I truly apologize. Maybe it's carot. Yeah, it's carotry. Carotry, however you say it, the word. They had to actually come up with a name.

Speaker 2: 8:35

That means death from overwork, because they have so many people over in Japan working so much over time, like they work seven days a week. This one woman in about five years ago, she died from overwork after logging 159 hours of overtime in a month. She was 31 years old, kara 31, and she died from 159 hours of overtime in one month. There are people that die at their death. Oh, no, I apologize, she was 24. No, no, no, no, that was right. So the one lady was 31 who died from overwork.

Speaker 2: 9:15

A 24 year old killed herself in April of 2015 because of the stress that was brought on by working the long hours. They worked seven days a week. She died weeks before she died on Christmas Day 2015. She posted on social media I want to die. Another message read I'm physically and mentally shattered. This is from the Guardian. It's an article taken from the Guardian, which is an online newspaper, and her case triggered a national debate about Japan's work practices and forced the prime minister to address a workplace culture that often forces employees to put in long hours to demonstrate their dedication, even if there's little evidence that it includes to. Not only are people killing themselves and or dying from the sheer physical and emotional toll that it takes on their body, but there is little evidence that all of that extra work that they're doing increases the productivity, so it's a lose lose situation, kara.

Speaker 1: 10:21

You know, and that's the crazy part, right, Because I'm wondering now, I'm kind of wondering are these people, these particular people who put in like 159 hours of overtime, like are they naturally driven? You know what I'm saying? Is it in their DNA or go?

Speaker 2: 10:42

ahead. It's the pressure. It's the pressure of, because there's another article from the popular science in 2018. And this one talks about Fiverr. Fiverr is a really cool website out there that you can hire freelancers to do a gazillion different things, like they have a multitude of options to choose from and it's a really good. Well, I used to really love the website, but now they say themselves so it's an online marketplace for freelance services, but they celebrate people whose drug of choice is sleep deprivation there are people who say they only need four hours of sleep to function at their highest levels, and that is so wrong.

Speaker 2: 11:27

And a list you know. Their PR team was excited to turn the story of a woman who continued driving passengers while in the depths of labor Come on people what. If you're in labor, go to the hospital or go home. Don't be all excited that you're still working Like this is no. I don't think these people do it because they want to. I think they're doing it because if they don't, then they're going to get left behind.

Speaker 1: 12:00

You know, I can only assume that that Lyft driver was doing that for monetary reasons. I can't imagine anything that would drive me that I'm going to put my child at risk. You know, unless she's like.

Speaker 1: 12:19

I'm going to have to feed this child, I'm going to have to diaper this child, I'm going to have to pay, you know, you know, and everything else. That's the only thing. I could think that would do something like that. But it goes back to what you said previously and especially if it's the people above you saying you got to do this, you got to do this, you got to do this, you got to do this, you know, just, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure. It goes back to what you said earlier it's a lose-lose. Yeah, nobody really wins, you know, and in those situations, because you do all that over time, and if it's not increasing productivity or if it's not bringing more clients in, and if, like, you can barely make it to the hospital to deliver your child in a safe environment and not a car, like it's a lose-lose situation. Mm-hmm, you know.

Speaker 2: 13:13

So, you, yeah, and it's not just in Japan, and it's not just it's in London. In 2013, there was an intern at the Bank of America who died after reportedly working 72 hours straight.

Speaker 1: 13:28

Oh, my goodness See, and it's yeah. Anyway, I'm going to keep my thoughts quiet on that, but it just well, you know what? I'm going to keep my thoughts quiet on that because you're probably going to cover what I'm going to say anyway, as we continue our topic today on Sabbath rest. So go ahead, go ahead. I'm done. I'm going to keep my mouth shut for a minute.

Speaker 2: 13:53

In October and November. We are going to be talking about that. So you know what, Kara? I said that it is September. It's not September, it's October. Where in the hell did my big mom go? We are in October, not September.

Speaker 1: 14:12

Yes.

Speaker 2: 14:17

So, anyway, we are in the FACI, so I think maybe I'm working a little too many hours. So in October we're going to be talking about Sabbath rest, what exactly that means, why we should observe it, why God gave it to us. And then in November we're going to talk about self care, the biblical definition of self care versus the society or culture's definition of self care, because self care obviously is very important, or more people would be working themselves to death. But this month we're going to focus on the Sabbath, and I think that it's so important to focus on the Sabbath first so that we understand the foundation of why we need rest, why God created it that way, why God created the system for us to have rest and the blessings that rest is so that when we then go talk about biblical self care, we're talking about it from that position of God gave us this. God gave us these tools, and we want to use them because we want to honor him, but we also want to take all the blessings that God wants to give to us.

Speaker 2: 15:35

So, that is. Did you know that? I did not realize this, but there is quite a contention about whether or not people are still supposed to observe the Sabbath. There's two different fields or two different viewpoints. The one viewpoint is God gave it as a commandment. It was given in the Old Testament as under the law. Jesus broke that law, or demolished the law, or I'm not sure the right wording to say. Therefore we're not supposed to observe the Sabbath anymore. It's a commandment that we're not supposed to do anymore. But I do not agree with that one at all. Just like people say we're not supposed to tithe anymore, and that's not true either. But today is not about tithing. Today is about the Sabbath. So we'll talk about tithing another day. But the Sabbath was actually given in Genesis. We, god, first gave the Sabbath in Genesis 2 to 3.

Speaker 2: 16:43

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing. So on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating what he had done. So for six days God created the world and on the seventh day he rested. We all know that story. But that is the very first time that he introduced the Sabbath. So he introduced it from the very beginning of time and he gave it to us and he modeled it for us. That is what we're supposed to do always.

Speaker 2: 17:14

So it's not a forgotten commandment, it's not just a commandment, although we did it back in Exodus 20, 8-9, god said remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. So in Exodus 20, that's where he lists all of the 10 commandments. So not only did God give it to us in Genesis at the very beginning, but he also gave it to us in Exodus, when he gave the 10 commandments of the laws that the Israelites were supposed to live by. So to me that just goes to show that it's doubly important that we observe the Sabbath, and I'll explain a few other reasons of why we should be observing the Sabbath. But anyway, exodus 20, 8-11, he states remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, your God. On it you shall do not do any work, neither you nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animal, nor any foreigner residing in your town. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth to see and all that is in them. He's referencing back to Genesis again. But he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. So our pastor was talking about the Sabbath rest in a sermon recently too, and he was making the statement that not only to God that so the Israelites were one of the only people who had this rule, had this command that they were supposed to follow. So most of the other towns around them, or the communities and the nations and the people, the different people that were surrounding the Israelites, did not observe the Sabbath. The most of the people, most of the countries that we live in here in modern society, do not observe a six day work or a five day work week. But taking Sunday off. Most people work seven days a week. Most countries work seven days a week.

Speaker 2: 19:18

God sets us apart for a reason. He sets us apart because he wants people to see well, he wants people to be drawn to him and not in a flashy oh look what I can offer you, but in a I'm the way of the truth and the life in me. You have eternal life without me. We don't type of a thing like he. He goes to the. He doesn't. He doesn't want you to be drawn in by the flash and the the benefits. He wants you to be drawn in by the truth. But this is one of the ways that he sets his people apart.

Speaker 2: 19:59

So back then, in the Exodus time, when he wrote Exodus, it was the Israelites. Nowadays it's all of the Christ followers, all of his believers. And how? How much more can he demonstrate his goodness and his blessing to us than if he? If we work six days a week, five days at our job, one day at home, whatever, and we are able to do more, be more successful, be more fulfilled, be more rested, be more healthy than those people who are turning the midnight oriole. Seven days a week Like this is what God wanted, and I love how, in Exodus, our pastor pointed this out that not only did God say you're not going to work, but he didn't want anybody to work and it was the only culture back then to where even the animals didn't work, like no one was allowed to work, who was associated with the Israelites.

Speaker 2: 21:05

Like I was thinking about that, I was like literally trying to picture what would it mean that your animals didn't work? Well, I guess it would mean that they wouldn't be clowning the field. The chicken would still. I wonder, did the chickens play egg carrot? Or did they not lay them on Sunday so that the Israelites didn't have to pick up the eggs either, like he did the whole day? Like, seriously, he gave them, man, a double on Saturday. So did he give them double the eggs on Saturday and the chickens didn't lay eggs on Sunday? I don't know. Like something.

Speaker 1: 21:41

Yeah, I you know. I wonder you know what I'm saying, because that would also mean, okay, this is going to sound weird, but when I think about and it kind of goes into something you had mentioned earlier but it's kind of like if chickens didn't lay eggs, like I mean, excuse me, if chickens lay eggs, was that considered work? And then I'm also thinking, well, what about women who went into labor? Right, right, did that have you know? Obviously that's something you can't stop, that's something you can't control.

Speaker 2: 22:23

Obviously he absolutely can't. He can't, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:30

And I think Sunday. But I think, and my Jewish, our Jewish listeners, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the biblical Sabbath day, at least, especially in Jewish culture, is on Saturday.

Speaker 2: 22:44

Well, actually it's Friday night at Sunday the sundown. Saturday night at sundown so okay. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 22:51

Okay, so we keep. I keep saying Sunday because we're in modern times and we're here in America and but in, but yeah, in the Middle East I think they do it from that sundown to sundown you were just mentioning, right, so, and typically here in America it's on a Sunday, but still you, I can't imagine the Sabbath that we do here or Sunday that we do here is nowhere in comparison to what they did back then.

Speaker 2: 23:28

You know what I'm saying? I think right.

Speaker 1: 23:32

I think theirs was much more holy, concentrated.

Speaker 2: 23:37

Consecrated over there.

Speaker 1: 23:40

Yes.

Speaker 2: 23:40

Yes, uh-huh, still holy. And there are people here in America who celebrate the true Sabbath from Friday night sundown to Saturday night sundown who are more holy.

Speaker 1: 23:54

Right.

Speaker 2: 23:54

Right.

Speaker 1: 23:58

And I'm thinking of just a couple of people that I know personally and I'm going. They probably would have gone bonkers, you know, because a day of complete rest and we're talking about day sherry, where there was no TV, there was no internet to scroll, you know, there was no radio to listen to, you know. So, and if you can't go out and work, I mean you're just like, but there were books, or well, I guess I shouldn't say book, but uh, oh, what did they grow? Thank you. Yes, there was girls, you know, but you know what. You probably got to know your family a lot better during the.

Speaker 1: 24:47

Sabbath, because you didn't have all these distractions. Agreed, agreed.

Speaker 2: 24:54

And that's the thing like that. That's the differentiation that we are trying to bring up today is that observing the Sabbath and taking a vacation are two very different things. Observing the Sabbath is a chance for you to refresh physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually by focusing on. God and by focusing on God. That doesn't mean that you sit around and sing worship songs and pray all day and listen to sermons Not that that's a bad thing, but that's not what we're saying either.

Speaker 2: 25:28

We're saying things that you can do and we're going to get into this more in our later week in the series but things that you can do, that you can keep your focus on God and let him fill you up and let him refresh you, versus just scrolling through social media or vegging and binge watching a series on TV Not that any of that is bad, but there's a difference in the mindset of observing the Sabbath, and the Sabbath really, truly, kara, is a trust issue. It's a practice in putting your trust in God. It's not taking a vacation day from work. It's saying Lord.

Speaker 2: 26:19

I am willingly giving up today, not thinking about work, not worrying about work, not doing any of those things, because I am trusting you to provide for my family, provide what I need, provide all of that, because this is what you promised to us. So it's really funny not funny, ha ha, because God doesn't have coincidences. But as we were getting ready, or as I was getting ready, to share my thoughts about the Sabbath and what God has been teaching me about the Sabbath, I have been working overtime lately, and quite a bit of overtime, and my body has been screaming at me saying, yeah, you're not 20 years old anymore, but, as we read from the articles, even if you are 20 years old, it's still not good for you, right? But anyway, that's the point. But so I was having a conversation with God about the whole trust issue of it and I said to him I said, okay, lord. I said because I had worked ahead for one of my jobs and had a choice I could sit and continue to work on that job or I could fill myself up and do something that I enjoyed, and one of the things that I enjoy is reading fiction. And so I said to him I said, okay, god, I said, this really isn't a choice. This is me either trusting you that you're going to provide the money that I need with the jobs that I have, or it's me working myself to death, basically, and providing for myself Because I have to be the one to provide. I don't trust you that you will provide it.

Speaker 2: 28:11

And even yesterday I had to make that choice again. I was sitting there and I'm like okay, I can either do this task, this job, this work, or I can push away from the computer and I can go, finish this amazing book that I'm reading. And I'm just really still up emotionally by reading this great Christian book in its cold pursuit, by Nancy Neal. Hey, Yay, let's go ahead, love it. Book two is probably out by now. I'm a little slower on the uptake because my summer was really busy. Oh my goodness, I cannot get enough. Like I think I will finish it tonight. So good, so good.

Speaker 2: 28:56

I chose, as you can hear from my voice, I chose to read last night and fill myself up, because I said and it wasn't really a matter of I could work or I couldn't work, it was God. I'm choosing not to work because I trust you with my time. I trust you that by the end of the month I will make the money that you want me to make. I trust you that I will be able to pay the bills that we need to pay. I'll be able to take care of the things that are my responsibility.

Speaker 2: 29:26

It's not up to me, and I think that is kind of the difference between taking a vacation day and not having and observing the Sabbath. Do we trust him that we can step aside, because he's the one who's in control of our paycheck, he's the one who's in control of our life, he's the one who's in control of our health, or do we have to do it all ourselves? So that's kind of the mindset that I have when I think about Sabbath versus just self-care. Why we should observe the Sabbath, not just because it's a command from God that we're supposed to observe it, but to me it's a heart and a trust issue. What do you think?

Speaker 1: 30:15

It's definitely a heart and a trust issue.

Speaker 1: 30:20

And not only is it one of the commandments, but I also think that we should view it kind of like we view the Ten Commandments. By that I mean God doesn't give us those so that we can't have fun in life right, so that we can't do things. He's saying your life, your Christian walk, your Christian journey will be better when you observe these things right. And I think it's the same way with the Sabbath. It's one of those things to where you don't think it's going to be good for you and you think it's a rule, kind of rigid and hard, and you're like hopefully now I have to sit down with my arms folded all down Sunday. No, that's not it. And God, in His awesomeness and in His always seeing the big picture and knowing us because he created us, he knows that work, work, work is not good for the human soul, for the human body, for the human mind. And we can work, work, work, work, work. And we can drain ourselves mentally, emotionally and physically. But in the end that's usually what we end up with drained mentally, physically, emotionally and physically, because we have no rest. We haven't taken time to get rest. And it's not just about physical rest, like Sherry was saying. It's about rest of the mind, you know, getting to reconnect with God, reconnect with your family, emotional rest, just not having to deal with the pressures, necessarily, of a job or the pressures of the things that come in addition to that. It's trust, just sitting back like a baby in his dad's arms and just leaning, sleeping comfortably on the shoulder. That God's got this. It's like I don't have to do this because God already has that. Because when you work, work, work, work, it takes a toll. You know and you don't have to find this biblically, you can find this scientifically for those who like to look at it from that perspective it takes a toll on your body. It can cause, it causes stress, it causes tension, it causes heart, all which leads to heart issues. It causes cancer. It does all of these things that are not good for us.

Speaker 1: 32:53

And God is just saying there's a reason why I tell you to observe the Sabbath, there's a reason for that, and I can hear some listeners now going but, cara, you don't understand. There's no way I could not work on a Sunday. My day off is doing a zone of Wednesday. My job requires that I work on Sundays. And to me and Sherry you could correct me on this if I'm wrong To me, if you're up on a Wednesday because your job requires you work Sundays, then that Wednesday is your Sabbath, because it's a day, it's like a devotion today, I guess I could say in today's world, because technically here in America, sundays, like we just discussed, isn't the original biblical day either.

Speaker 1: 33:41

I don't know the history of why here in America or I should say North America, I guess, absorb it on a Sunday.

Speaker 1: 33:49

I don't know exactly how that came about, I don't know the history of it, but I think it goes back to what Sherry said.

Speaker 1: 33:54

It's a heart issue and if your one day off a week or the one day that you can do it is not on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, then let that one day that you are off of that you can commit to it be that day, be the day you reconnect with God, that you sit back, listen, rest and just take care of your spiritual and emotional journey and trust God to bring it all to pass.

Speaker 1: 34:27

And it's very interesting, just bringing it back to a more contemporary setting, it's very interesting how, year after year I haven't checked this year, but I think, as of last year, how Chick-fil-A employees do not work on Sunday. Yet Chick-fil-A has for several years, several years, financially beat out all the big major chains, all the McDonald's, the Burger Kings, the other, the KFCs and everything else, and yet their employees work less than some of these other places, which is also 24 hours. And Chick-fil-A is not 24 hours, at least not in our area. You know, it's just amazing how, when you go by honoring that, that God ends up blessing you financially. Did any of that make sense, sherry? Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 35:18

I'm so glad that you brought up that you need to, that it's okay and it's a good thing to observe the Sabbath on whatever day you can, because, if you look at it, pastors they work on it every Sunday, so that gives you the best possible. So, yes, I'm so glad you brought that up that you hadn't. I was going to. I agree that observing the Sabbath is a blessing for us and yet we consider it a punishment, which is so not true. Like if we could just switch our mindset to see, like you said, all of the 10 commandments that God gives us are for our benefit.

Speaker 1: 35:55

Yes.

Speaker 2: 35:56

It's because God loves us that he gives us these things. And if we try to do it all on our own, then we are missing out on the blessing of allowing God to work supernaturally in our lives. He wants to work supernaturally and to show off and to point people to Him by that supernatural miracle. But if we take that away from Him by doing it all on our own and striving to do it our way, which we'll never measure up to any supernatural blessing, by the way ever, then we are taking that gift away from Him and we are basically saying we don't want it.

Speaker 2: 36:40

You and I have been talking that we're kind of both in a season of transition right now in our lives, and we've been talking about how we're viewing it as an adventure. Well, if we stuck our feet in the ground and said, god, I'm sorry, but I'm not transitioning right now, I'm really comfortable where I am think of the blessings that we, the supernatural blessings that both of us would be giving up, well, I don't want to give up a supernatural blessing I don't know about you, but I don't. And, granted, I don't see what it is yet. I'm still in the beginning stages. Well, I guess I'm kind of past the beginning stages of the transition, but I'm not quite there yet.

Speaker 2: 37:22

But you better believe that when I get there I'm going to be screaming it from the mountain top and everyone's going to know that it was God that did this in my life. It did a humongous, amazing thing in our daughter's life and it's not my news to tell, so I won't share it today but he opened the doors wide for her for an opportunity, and it was so clear and so big and so amazing that there is no way any of us could have said oh nope, it was just her, it was all God. And I am excited because, kara, I believe that he's getting ready to do that in both of our lives, both of our families, and I don't know what it is, but I am excited to see what it's going to be.

Speaker 1: 38:08

So absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 38:12

This is kind of the whole premise of today's topic and today's podcast is explaining what the Sabbath is, why we should observe it, that it's not a punishment of sorry you have to sit around, it's a blessing, and to be able to grasp that blessing and look forward to it every week I actually, since I've started to observe it the right way and from the right heart, I have started to love the Sabbath. I absolutely love that. It's the one day a week where I can just be and it really truly does help me through the rest of the week. I'm more refreshed on Monday, I'm more ready to tackle the day. I still don't like Mondays, but I'm more able to handle Mondays and deal with what comes on Mondays because I took that actual Sabbath rest, not just the vacation day. So if this is something that resonated with you, we would love it if you would email us at cheeruppodcasts at gmailcom or come over to the Facebook group, cheer up podcast on Facebook and join the community there and let's start a topic and start a conversation about the Sabbath over there. Next week we're going to come back and we're going to talk about the benefits of the Sabbath. So we kind of teased a little bit and talked just briefly about how there's mental, physical, emotional and spiritual Sabbath rest. So we want to talk a little bit more next week, or dive into it a little bit deeper, about what exactly that means and how you fill up, because if it's not a vacation day and it's not scrolling on Facebook so what exactly do you mean, sherry, by filling your different tanks, your four tanks, on the Sabbath? What does that really look like? So we're going to come back next week when we're going to talk about that.

Speaker 2: 40:13

Head over to Kara's website, karaahuntcom, and you will find all the information you want to about the Habakkuk series. I am super excited. We have something really cool planned for January. That's all I'm going to say. But you're going to want to be here in January because we're going to be delving a little bit deeper into some of Kara's books, which, again, I'm super excited about.

Speaker 2: 40:38

Head over to my website, sherry twalwellcom, and you can find out about Jesus and the Everyday, monthly Membership another way to help you not just observe the Sabbath but to grow your relationship with Christ. 365 days a year. You will get prompt and encouragement and ways to start those conversations with God that you can continue throughout the whole day. So that's what that is all about. We are just really glad that you're here, and this is just a topic that I am super passionate about, because God has just been really teaching me more and more about it, and I'm just excited to share it with you. To come back next week, we're going to talk about the benefits of the Sabbath, and until then, have a fantastic week. Have a great October, not September. Don't know where my head was this morning. I must not have observed my Sabbath very well, because I was not quite there. I shouldn't blame the Sabbath on that, probably more like my brain fog. So have a great week. We will talk to you next week and just enjoy today. Enjoy your adventure.