Episode 02: Sabbath & Identity with Amanda Dzimianski

[00:00:00]

Rachel: I’m looking forward to diving in today with my friend, Amanda Dziminaski.[00:01:00]

Amanda describes herself as a human learning how to be and a recovering legalist. She writes to invite people to embrace and experience their own belovedness. She also pends poetry and is a writing coach. Now, Amanda, you write a lot about a topic that is near and dear to my heart: identity.

I think that when we talk about taking a Sabbath rest, it naturally lends itself to identity because at the heart of Sabbath is a call to remember whose you are and what He has purposed you to do. So I’m excited to hear your thoughts today on this topic. But before we dive into that, I want to know a little bit more about your family. Tell me about them and how– you guys have been practicing for three and a half years. You’ve been practicing Sabbath. Yeah. And so tell us a little bit about your family and what brought you to implement a Sabbath practice into your week.

Amanda: Okay, well, thank you so much for having me. I’m Amanda and I am married to David and we have two little [00:02:00] boys. Our oldest is turning five this month and our youngest is 18 months. And so they keep us busy for sure.

Our practicing came about sort of in an interesting way. My husband and I had gone to a training for church planters. That was something that at the time we felt like we were supposed to start getting into. And the training was amazing. We met a lot of really fun people, a lot of really smart people, but there was one person that really, really stands out in my mind and his name was Brett. And one night over dinner, he was sitting across from my husband and I, and he asked us to tell our story about how we’d gotten into ministry. Our spiritual journeys. He was the best listener I’ve ever met in my life. And [00:03:00] there was just this presence that emanated from him that made you feel like you were seen and you were heard. And you were the only person in the room as far as he was concerned. And we only met this guy once for the training. But during one of the discussion groups, I remember him mentioning that he practiced a weekly Sabbath. So the next day I went and I found him and I said, Hey, tell me about that. Because that sounds really interesting. It had been a concept that I had heard people bring up in conversation. And I wanted to explore it and understand a little bit more about it.

And I mean, it was nothing fancy. He talked about he, how he and his wife would just spend the day doing the best they could to relax. You know, if you like to go for a run, make it one of your easy days. Don’t, don’t go all all out for the half marathon. [00:04:00] You know, make your meals easy, go out and watch the sunset.

Just a lot of beautiful things that we like to talk about, but

Rachel: don’t always actually do.

Amanda: Don’t always actually do exactly. And so just the fact that we met this person it’s felt like at the right time and the right season. We started talking about it as a family and we were also transitioning out of traditional church into church planting slash more alternative church and it all sort of melded together at the same time.

And Our Sundays were naturally slowing down. And so it just made the most sense for us to practice Sabbath on a Sunday. And I know that that doesn’t work for everybody or doesn’t need to work for everybody that way. But for us, that’s just the pattern that we fell into. [00:05:00] And it’s my favorite day of the week now.

Rachel: That’s so cool. I love how a natural progression it was for you, but also that is. Because you met somebody who practiced it and who you were so impressed with how present he was in that moment. And I think that speaks to something that’s kind of a result of Sabbath practice. Like you just become more aware of the moments that you have because you become more intentional with those moments. And so it, I think that when you described him, like, yeah, that, that has described a lot of people that I know who practice Sabbath, that’s very intentional listening, observing, being present in the moment because it’s important to be present in that moment. And I think that practicing that week after week, where you have to slow down and you’re not rushing to the next thing, does remind you that you can enjoy the moment for what it [00:06:00] is. So what does the practice look like for you now? Has it evolved at all over the last three years?

Amanda: Oh, it has so evolved in a lot of good ways. Different seasons call for different ways of doing things. So I’ll give you an example.

So when I first started my Sabbath practice, I would ease into it on Saturday night by taking a nice hot bath. And I loved that so much. It was just, it was just the best to end my week that way after my kiddo was in bed. Well, when we had our second baby just the way his sleeping arrangement was he’s right up against the bathroom wall where I would normally take a bath. And so now that nice hot bath closes my Sabbath for the week. It’s kind of one of the last things I get to do. My husband and I we’ll take turns with the kids. And so like when it’s my turn to go do something, he will take the kids and I’ll just go have my bath for about an hour. And it’s [00:07:00] just the best and I look forward to it so much.

Rachel: That’s awesome. Do you guys do like a 24 hour period of time? You said Sunday. Is that your full Sunday or is it, do you end at a certain time of the evening?

Amanda: It it’s pretty much a 24 hour period we’re not like hardcore about our starting and ending times, it just naturally falls that way.

But kind of, you know, after the kids get in bed on Saturday night. That’s just kind of when it starts for us and we relax and slow down a little bit. Sometimes I’m finishing up some laundry from the week or something like that, but usually I try to have that space open. And then the next morning that’s one of the… that’s sometimes we get to sleep in on Saturdays, but usually it’s just Sunday morning. So we sleep in on Sunday morning. We do a slow breakfast. Sometimes we do something [00:08:00] special. We try to keep our food very easy and simple during the rest of the day, but sometimes we’ll be a little fancy with breakfast or something.

I do a lot of reading on my Sabbath. It’s just kind of that’s one of my favorite things to do, so I will usually find pockets of time throughout the day. I try to listen to music during breakfast, which is not something I do usually during the week. My oldest son will play video games with his dad and in mid morning we do what we call a simple church, which is just a tiny, tiny group of people that gets together and reads a passage and discusses it. But that happens to be part of our Sundays right now. So we do that.

Usually my social media is a lot, lot more limited on Sundays. Honestly before [00:09:00] pandemic, I would take the apps off my phone on Sundays and just completely unplugged from that.

Rachel: So you completely uninstalled them of your phone each. Hmm, that’s really impressive.

Amanda: I mean, it wasn’t, it wasn’t every single week, but most of the time they were either notifications were all off or the app was actually uninstalled. If I had been spending a lot of time on it that week. Things shifted a little bit last year when the pandemic began and we were just already feeling that huge loss of connection. And so I didn’t feel the same need to do that anymore. But this fall, I’m actually feeling the pull to start doing that again. So I think that’s kind of an example of how Sabbath practices will shift and ebb and flow throughout different seasons of your life. It’s not meant to be this extremely rigid thing. Where it doesn’t have any room to breathe.

Rachel: Yeah. And I think that what, [00:10:00] sometimes we forget when we’re going into Sabbath practice and we’re like, what is it supposed to look like? What’s work. What’s not work. What’s rest. What’s not rest. When you actually start digging into scripture and looking at what God actually laid out for the Israelites, if we’re going to be like really, “okay, that’s the example. We’ll follow that example.” Even that isn’t very rigid. And I think people have this perception that it is. But it’s actually not, and it’s very much about community, like preparing together and then enjoying together. And there’s some things that are put in place to protect that, but not a whole lot to be a list of rules and do’s and don’ts. And so I think that’s because the Israelites were about to enter in to the promised land and essentially establish the nation and grow it in the, you know, in this return to the promised land. And I think that there’s a beautiful thing in that it’s not [00:11:00] so rigid that it could evolve with them as they established and they grew and it could ebb and flow. And I think that’s true for us now today in our culture, in our society, in the way that our seasons work and now how, you know, we’re not in a, in a culture that collectively Sabbath together. And so it has to look a little bit different for us. But I think that that’s the beauty in scripture is that it can and is not so rigid. And so set in stone. That it can ebb and flow from season to season and from what, what do you need in this time to reconnect with God and reconnect with each other? And I often hear people, when they talk about Sabbath, they talked about like getting rid of their electronics. I think there’s wisdom in that because I think we consume way more than we even realize as far as like messages coming at us through various media sources. But I also think that we don’t have to be legalistic about it. I appreciate that [00:12:00] you brought that up. I think that’s such a, such an important point about how we can be structuring Sabbath and how we can be practicing it.

I’m very intrigued by this, this church model that you are involved in. Do you guys ever practice Sabbath together as a community or is it just your family?

Amanda: So far, it’s just been my family. Right now we’re meeting with another couple and they are empty-nesters they’re older and, you know, life just looks a little bit different for them than our families rhythms do. And I think that that’s a time where they get to hang out with their grandkids a lot on Sunday and things like that. But when we first started meeting together we would also share a meal .That has also shifted in the last year or so, but we share a meal together but we catch up with each other’s week and and everything. So [00:13:00] I can say there’s kind of an overlap of our styles of Sabbath for a short period on that day, which is really, really great.

Rachel: The reason I asked is because when you look at the early church in the way that they sabbathed, it was often let’s talk about the scripture. Let’s talk about what it applies to our life, and let’s share a meal together.

 I’m curious, if somebody said, okay, what’s Sabbath, how would you define it?

Amanda: Well, for me, it’s a 24 hour period of rest and play and no productivity.

Rachel: I love that. That’s perfect. Have you found that it’s changed, has practicing it changed your life in any way?

Amanda: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it’s really dovetailed, very neatly with the concept of identity that we were talking about earlier and how those two things have sort of been hand in hand in my [00:14:00] journey of learning about them and then sort of embracing them. There’s a phrase from a song that says grace requires nothing of me and those two concepts hold hands so well together. This idea that I can take a full day to just be without doing and that’s okay with God. Just that idea that I am loved and held anyway, even if I’m not being productive, that has fully changed my life as far as how I look at myself, how I look at my relationship with God, how I look at other people’s. And an offer them grace, when I don’t see them doing things the same way I do. It all really does fit together and joined together and it has really changed my entire approach to faith. I think.

Rachel: That’s so beautiful. [00:15:00] We’re so driven by our to-do lists and our ideals and our expectations, and maybe even the expectations we put on others, it all drives us every single day. And to be able to say for one day a week, I’m going to just set all of that aside and just enjoy my life with my creator. I just think that’s really powerful.

You mentioned that you kind of came into your understanding of your identity. Did anything change for you in that? Was there any lies about your identity, your believing prior to that, that kind of fell away? Tell me about that.

Amanda: Well, I know around the same period of time I really did believe that I could earn brownie points with God, by doing things a certain way, by doing things the right way. And I carried some of that probably through the beginning of my period of learning about Sabbath and beginning to [00:16:00] practice it. But it didn’t last long. I think that you practice that for a certain period of time. It is going to pull you in a certain direction to where if you, if you’re not learning at the same time, how to embrace resting in God, because of who he is instead of what you can do. I think that you’ll get tired of Sabbath and you won’t be able to sustain that practice because that drive to produce or do to earn your way will kind of pull you away. So not that Sabbath practices can’t change or there are seasons where you have to step away from doing it a certain way, not at all, but I think that when we place our Christian spiritual value in what we’re doing for God and the kind of [00:17:00] impact that we are making for God, it pulls us away from the whole reason he wants to be with us. It’s like, I made you, I created you. I’m here to be with you and for us to go forward together.

Rachel: I loved what you said about that if you, if you don’t seek to understand what it means to rest with God and rest in who he is, you’re going to get sick of Sabbath because then it’s just a vacation, right. It’s just taking time off and that’s not true rest. That’s not understanding Jesus as our Sabbath rest, understanding his completed work on the cross and his grace that he offers through that work on the cross. That’s so true.

Amanda: I think that the whole point of Sabbath is to teach us how to live the other six days of the week.

Rachel: Amen. Amen. Is it’s a balance. It’s [00:18:00] work and rest are two sides of the same coin. Right? If you, if you aren’t doing the one, you’re not going to do the other one well. If all we’re doing is taking time off and we’re not being productive, the other six days is going to cheapen the rest that we do have, but if we’re not resting, it’s gonna impact our productivity.

So what challenges, because each week it’s, you know, when you’re doing this week after week, and you can prepare and you can have best intentions, but we always run into challenges. And so what are your challenges that you often face with practices?

Amanda: Well, our kids are at the age where they really like to be entertained naturally. So when they see mom and dad, you know, just sitting around on Sunday, not doing anything that can really become a battle for me. I think because it’s like, oh, this [00:19:00] is my time. I want to, I really want to just rest and I don’t want to do anything. And, and, you know, we’ve come up with a lot of different things that will help all of us enjoy the day. But I do kind of think. As my kids get older, especially my older son, he seems to really be extroverted and really thrive on being around people. I’m an introvert. I like my Sunday, my myself, thank you very much. But some of that, you know, sometimes we’ll have some cousins over in the afternoon or something because that’s good for him.

So finding a balance that serves everyone in the family. And I mean right now, mom and dad kind of need the rest more than anybody else. So that’s do prioritize that. As our boys get older, I think we’ll, we’ll see more and more changes start to happen. Just because there are different people with different [00:20:00] needs. And so I think learning how to practice as a family is sort of its own unique dynamic.

Rachel: Yes. Let’s talk about that a little bit more because I think, I think I quite honestly, a lot of. A lot of the resources that I’ve come across that talk about seventh, often talk about it from a very individual. Like, this is how you can rest mom. And let’s be honest when we have littles, I have a five-year-old as well. I have a couple older than yours, but my youngest is five and yeah, they like to be entertained. And so it can be hard to take a 24 hour Sabbath when you still have people who need you 24 hours a day, you know? And so let’s talk about that for a little bit. What are some of the ways that I know you had mentioned a little bit earlier that you and your husband take turns. Are there any other things that you have come across or learned in the last few years of how to navigate as a mom?

Amanda: We do extra [00:21:00] screen time on Sabbath. It’s not something we do tons and tons of during the week. So I don’t feel bad about letting them and honestly, I mean, for anybody listening or watching no shame period. And you know what, you, you do what you gotta do. And this has been one of the weirdest 18 months that our world has ever experienced. So, you know, what, if your kids have a lot of screen time during the week and you need a break on Sabbath, you give them some more, it’s going to be okay. Their brains are not going to rot and fall out of their heads. It’s okay. So I just, I feel passionately about that moms don’t need to feel any more shame.

Rachel: Yeah, say it louder for the people in the back. Right?

Amanda: So another thing we do. I think I mentioned earlier, we try to keep our food pretty simple. Some people don’t like to go out to eat [00:22:00] or get food on Sabbath, and I completely understand that. I actually think it’s a good idea for us in this season. Sometimes we just go and get some junk food so that I don’t have to cook. Nobody has to clean up the kitchen and everybody has something that they’re happy with.

Rachel: Yes. We do the same. Yeah. There’ve been times when we we try to do a meal on Saturday night, but on Sunday we often get lunch after church out, especially since there’s a, there’s a restaurant down the road from us that has a dollar hotdogs. So literally you pass them on the way back to our house with that, with some French fries, call it good.

You, you, you gotta do it works for you, right? Like I know that we keep kind of belaboring that point, but it’s important because there is no shame no shame in, in finding ways that can protect time for you to get rest as the parents. And and to take some [00:23:00] of that burden off, I think. Our culture has kind of made us these little islands of families. You know, like some of us don’t have extended family that we can lean into on a weekly basis or really great babysitters. You know, some of us don’t have that. We’re shouldering all the burden and I think that’s why it’s important to say what you need as the parents of the family to rest is important. And then yeah, we take into consideration what our kids need as well. But if we’re taking care of it just naturally flows down to our kids, right?

Amanda: Yes, absolutely. And just to add on a little bit more to that especially when we first began our Sabbath practice, we would eat the same meal every night for dinner that Sunday we’d make grilled cheese and popcorn, and that’s what we had. And it also made it really, really simple. If we did want to spend time with some of our neighbors [00:24:00] or our family, we could just invite them over the menu’s already. You know, we just throw everything together and everybody’s happy.

And so I think having a couple of super simple, just go to grab foods, food is a big part of what I do for our family, you know, the planning and the shopping thing. And I would never want that to be an obstacle for anybody. And so just pick a food that everybody likes and eat that every week.

Rachel: I think that’s a really great suggestion because I think sometimes we can be like, okay, it needs to meet something fancy or any needs to be special because it’s a special day. And it’s like, no just keep it simple. Keep it, keep it simple. If it, and I liked what you said, you wouldn’t want something, keeping people from practicing it. Like if, if it’s going to keep you from practicing it, then make it simpler than you’re thinking of. So that’s good. Do you have any other tips or suggestions?

Amanda: I do.

Rachel: Okay. [00:25:00] Lay it on us.

Amanda: For the mom was too may have a new baby.

Rachel: Ooh. Okay.

Amanda: Cut yourself all the slack. Because as, as mamas know, when you got a new baby, every day is the same. It doesn’t matter if the calendar says Sabbath, in a lot of ways, you have certain things that you can’t just put down. So go really, really easy on yourself. It was really hard last year when I had my second baby and you know, it was right as COVID was taking off. And so there were all the changes to go along with that, but then it was disrupting my normal Sabbath practice too, because you know, babies got to eat. We still got to figure out sleeping and you know, you’re just tired anyway.

Rachel: You are. Sleep deprivation is a real thing.

Amanda: so tired. So, you know, if you have any moms who are listening, who are about to have a new baby or have one, I see [00:26:00] you. I see you. And I know it’s hard and it’s going to become easier.

Rachel: Yes. Yes. I would just add on to that, if you’re nursing, I would just try to look at things a little bit outside the box, like don’t, you know just try to use those moments where you feel like, oh my gosh, all I’m doing is sitting here in the monotony day after day doing the same thing. And it’s hard. Just try to think, how can I spin this? So that I can find rest in these moments that feel like they might be taking something from me. And once again, like Amanda said, we see you because we know how hard it is. So take comfort in that. Is there anything else you have for us in that same train of thought?

Amanda: Sort of add on to what you were just saying, you know, if, if there’s something that makes you happy, See, if you can make space for it. There is a [00:27:00] fantastic quote. I wrote it down here. There is a teacher who hosts the BEMA podcast which is one of my all time favorite podcasts. And he has he describes it. He says, we rest, we play, no work, God loves us. And that’s their definition of Sabbath that they teach their itty bitty tiny kids so that they can kind of get the concept. So going back to that idea of practicing as a family teaching your kids, why you’re taking the day off in a sense you know, why you’re celebrating the way that you’re celebrating things like that.

Rachel: Can you say that quote again?

Amanda: We rest we play no work, God loves us.

Rachel: I like that it’s kind of like a little mantra that you can say to your kids to just kind of help them understand what it is that we’re doing each week, because we [00:28:00] want them to know, we want them to know why we’re resting, why we make this day a little bit different than all the others so that they know how to do it when they get older. So I’m assuming you didn’t have an example of rest when you’re growing up or did you?

Amanda: Sunday was always church day and but it was like two services a day plus some new school. And so there was, there was not much rest, I would say. It was it was a change in rhythm, which I think can sometimes feel like rest, even if it’s not physically resting our body. Which I do think is important. I think the rest of our bodies, oh, we take a nap pretty much every single Sunday.

Rachel: Sorry not to interrupt you, but like, if you’re watching the video, I’ve just ducked down twice now and that’s because I accidentally keep hitting the minimizing button. And so like all of a sudden Amanda goes off my screen and I can’t see her. So if you’re [00:29:00] watching the video, that’s why I keep disappearing out of the frame. Sorry about that. So you were saying you guys take a nap and I love that. So do you guys all, like, do you just put everybody down for nap at the same time? That’s awesome. I think, I think I need that on Sunday afternoon. I think we’re going to have to maybe put that into our, into our Sabbath practice. I’m going to make a note right now.

It is the best. And honestly, you know, I think, I think for wives and moms sometimes because getting everybody out the door and prepared is, is often something that we feel responsible for. You know, if you have the option maybe there’s a way for you to take a Sabbath that doesn’t involve a church day. Maybe it’s not a full 24 hours, but maybe it’s somewhere a pocket of time during the week. There was a friend that I had a couple of years ago she was [00:30:00] Involved in a campus ministry of some kind, but for her, her Sabbath started at like six o’clock on Sunday night after her church service. And she went home and she unplugged and she went to sleep and she slept for about 12 hours. And then the next day she did not check email or turn on her phone until about midday. So she made that pocket of time for herself because she knew she needed it.

 I think that that’s an option sometimes, especially if you’re in a season where your whole, family’s not ready to do Sabbath I think that that’s an option. So don’t let anything stop you. You can find a way!.

I agree. Everybody listen to Amanda. Don’t let anything stop you. I love that. I think we’re starting to talk a little bit about how you’re talking about the example you had growing up, that it was a change in rhythm, but [00:31:00] not necessarily rest. And I want to ask you, do you see that there’s a difference between sabbath and say like Bible study or small group or things like that, do you see there’s a difference in it? And if so, why should we do both?

Amanda: Well, I definitely think they’re different. Because Bible studies and small group are usually maybe not always, but a lot of times there is a kind of productivity to them. There is kind of an attempt to move forward, whether it’s in a passage or a workbook or something like that. And I feel like Sabbath is something that happens on the inside of us. I mean, the word Sabbath, if, if I have understood correctly, the word Sabbath literally means a ceasing. It’s just a complete stopping. And so I think that they are different. And I think that [00:32:00] we need, I know that I personally need community and community around spiritual things. But I also need Sabbath as kind of a separate thing where I can pull into myself as an introvert. That’s what I need. Other people may spend that energy outward, but for me, I need that slowing down the stopping, you know, I don’t do the laundry. I don’t do the dishes those days. I don’t do the things that are a part of my daily rhythm. I’m not checking my to-do list for what I need to do next. I’m not sending emails. I need that, stopping that ceasing from all that other stuff and a chance to sort of, I can’t remember the author, but somebody says, let your soul catch up with your body.

Rachel: Oh, that’s good. I will look up the author of that quote because I’ve seen that quote before too. And I think that’s such a good one. And we’ll put it in the show notes. But that’s so true for our souls to catch up.[00:33:00]

For listeners who are more introverted. Is there anything that you would suggest to them as far as the Sabbath practice?

Amanda: If you find communication, especially digital communication, like texting or voxing or emails to be taxing Don’t do those during the day. You know, if there are important people in your life that can get ahold of you by calling you and the rest can just kind of be let go for a couple of hours because it’s always going to be there, get back as far as other suggestions, I mean, Sabbath helps you get to know yourself.

Rachel: I was just going to ask you that if you feel like you’ve gotten to understand more of your, your personality through the practice of Sabbath?

Amanda: Yeah, absolutely. I find how refreshed I am after a day of just reading [00:34:00] and taking naps and watching a show that I enjoy, you know, stuff that… the competition for my attention, narrows a little bit on my Sabbath.

Rachel: The competition for your attention, narrows a bit on Sabbath. I love that quote. So. Because that’s exactly what it is. We’re kind of moving things out of the way so that we can just focus on the things that we need to focus on that day, which is rest and recovery and relaxing and reconnecting with God and each other.

And I think that is so good. So good. Well, Amanda, this has been a fabulous conversation. I’ve loved. how detailed and and specific and practical this is because I know when I first started practicing Sabbath, and I don’t know if you experienced the same thing, but when I first started practicing a few years ago, there was like, not a whole lot of resources that really talked about the ins and outs of Sabbath. So I know this is going to be a [00:35:00] great benefit to our listeners to see what it could be and to be encouraged to make it look what it needs to be. And so I really appreciate you sharing so much and so openly.

 I know you have a resource that is going to even more deepen our listeners spiritual journey. And so I want you to describe that a little bit and explain to them how they can get it, what it is, all the things.

Amanda: Sure! So this is a free resource for people who want to join my email list and it’s called seven simple and surprising ways to connect with God in the overwhelm. And the idea behind this is allowing our physical five senses. And honestly, there are a lot of people who say there’s more than five senses now. Right. But using those built-in senses to lead us to a connection with God In the, sort [00:36:00] of the ordinary moments.

And so to me, this is kind of the idea of taking Sabbath and moving it into the rest of the week and finding and finding a pocket of time here and there. And I mean, honestly, these take from like five minutes down to five seconds, you can do everything on my list. In that, in that scope of time there are simple things like using the visual of lighting, a candle to remember that the presence of God is right here right now.

You are not alone. And he is with you. There’s just, there’s a list of those. And I do kind of think of it as Sabbath for the rest of the week.

Rachel: Oh, I like that. I love that idea of using your senses to reconnect with God throughout the week. That’s fabulous. Okay. So they can just go to your website then.

Amanda: Yeah. You can find it on pretty much any page on my website. It’s the big header at the front of the website [00:37:00] amandadziminaski.com. And then if you follow me on Instagram, it’s also in my profile link. And I’d love to see you in any of those places.

Rachel: Yeah. So that’s how we can support you. Then we can follow you on Instagram, download your free resource. Are there any other places we can connect with you?

Amanda: Those are the primary ones. I will be for, if you have any listeners who are writers come the first of the year, I will be offering writing coaching. And so that, that information will all be on my website.

Perfect. Amanda, do you mind if I pray for us as we close.

 Love it.

Rachel: All right. Father God, thank you so much for this wonderful time here with Amanda. Thank you for her generosity in sharing with us what she has learned over the years of practicing Sabbath with her family.

Lord, thank you for the gentlemen that you brought into her life at the very beginning to show her what it could [00:38:00] mean to take a break with you each and every week, Lord, we pray that the conversation we’ve had here today, that it blesses those that are listening. We pray that they take from this an encouragement to to think outside the box as to what Sabbath can look like for them to think about the things that they need to match their personality and their season of life and to feel freedom in applying sabbath in a way that works for them and for their family. Lord, we ask that you would just bless each and every listener we ask that you bless Amanda and her family. And we just thank you for another week to work with you and rest with you in your precious and holy name. We pray. Amen.

Amanda: Amen.

Rachel: Thank you for listening into today’s episode. We’ll see you next time.