Sabbath Journey!

Where to begin? From Aleph to Tav, it all begins and ends here…

Shabbat Shalom 

MY FRIENDS!!! MY DEAREST FRIENDS!!!

It is with great JOY that I share this journey WITH YOU!!!!

Embarking on a journey to work from a place of rest, we begin with how I got to this moment.

After heartache, heartbreak, and losing myself to be found in Jesus, I finally decided to ask God what He desired for me in 2023. So, in December 2022, I said

“God, what do you want for me in 2023?”

Upon asking the Lord what He desired for me the ONLY WORD I received was, 

“Sabbatical”.

I had heard of college professors taking sabbaticals, but I did not understand the meaning of sabbatical.  So I began to ask others about the word given to me, I researched the word, and also began to participate in “Shabbat” dinners with my friends.

In the beginning, after everything was completed in the heavens and the earth, God rested on the 7th day (Genesis 2:1-2). Therefore, if God did it, then it is okay for me to do it. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus said, “Shabbat (sabbath), was made for mankind, not mankind for Shabbat”. (Mark 2:27 CJB). 

Going from a person that ran from one activity to the next, with limited hours of rest in between, it was difficult for me to understand what it meant to practice “shabbat-ing”. But, the Lord began to show me how to rest. Surrendering everything to Him while I learned how to slow down has been humbling. Slowly adding activities back as I learned to move according to His guidance has been fun. 

I did not realize that taking a sabbatical as an elementary school teacher was even an option for me, but I did have a desire to travel to Israel. I also strongly desired to understand what God wanted for me for 2023 and when He shared the ONE WORD with me, I desired to pursue it fully. 

That desire led me to ask for a sabbatical leave from my employer with these steps:

Step 1- Asking my principal if it was even an option

Step 2- Preparing a document for the request and submitting it according to the teacher contract  specifications

Step 3- Following through and meeting additional requirements from my employer

Step 4- Celebrating the acceptance and approval of the sabbatical leave WITH ALL OF YOU!!!

Although we have only just begun, I look forward to what the LORD has for me today and for eternity. Until next time, may we learn to cease from our own work and enter a place of rest as we know that at the beginning of every day God is gracious. 

-Dawnjene