Ep 45: Sabbath & the Single Mom with Lynn Matthews

Rachel: [00:00:00]

Rest doesn’t have to be a four-letter word. If you feel like you’re about to break from exhaustion. Let me invite you to Simply Sabbath, a podcast for the burnt-out Christian mom, who longs to get back to the core of who she is and to reclaim the deep joy and stabilizing peace Jesus has for her in her every day– without the mom guilt that often accompanies self-care practices.

Hi, my name is Rachel Fahrenbach and I help busy moms just like you add a simple restful family Sabbath to their week. So they can experience a refueling that gives them exactly what they need to live the life that God has called them to. I’m so glad you’ve joined me today. Let’s get to it.

Welcome back to another episode of Simply Sabbath I’m really excited about today’s conversation. I often [00:01:00] talk to women who are married and have family, But today I’m talking to my friend Lynn.

And Lynn experienced a time in her life where she wasn’t married, but she still had kids at home and she still practiced Sabbath and I asked her to come on here and share that journey with us because I think it’s important that we acknowledge that not everybody has a spouse at home to facilitate a Sabbath rest for the whole family.

And so I wanted to talk about what that looked like in her life. But before we get into that conversation, I want to tell you a little bit more about Lynn. Lynn is a writer, a remarried widow, an empty nester, community service chaplain and daughter of the king. She’s learning to embrace joy, make the most of this glorious life. And be a faithful disciple in her hometown of Richland, Michigan. Thank you for being here today, Lynn. I appreciate

Lynn: it.

Oh, it’s my pleasure.

Rachel: So Lynn, I’m just gonna ask you if you could just share your journey of your [00:02:00] story of losing your husband and how Sabbath played a role in the years that followed that.

Lynn: Okay. Um, let’s see. So the year that we very unexpectedly lost my husband, um, our children were seven, 11, and 13. Oh my, We were, um, deeply rooted in our church, um, and have a great, um, sense of God’s faithfulness and provision for us. But you know, in that moment, when that comes just so ahead of where you ever would’ve imagined, um, Everything changed and, and everything that I did from that point forward was really deliberate.

And when you’re the only person in the household who can drive [00:03:00] for three years, my 13 year old, I can’t remember, she was. Almost 17, I think, when she got her license. But you know, things change. Mm-hmm. , I had great support from extended family. Um, my husband’s parents were in town and his sister, and they helped me.

My mom was in town. She picked the kids up after school and all that kind of stopped. But it was really important for me. Um, I just set a boundary , um, okay. After church on Sunday, we’re going out to lunch, we’re sitting at a table, we’re enjoying a meal. I don’t have to prepare. Everybody gets something that they like, , and, um, it was an extravagance, you know?

Um, For us. But, you know, that’s where it began. Sabbath meant we didn’t go to [00:04:00] early service. Mm-hmm. , I, I went to the middle service and served on at the Late Service . Mm-hmm. . Um, so there was a little bit more rest to the morning routine. Um, you know, I had, I’m, I think that by that time we had at least had. To pretty deep teachings about the importance of Sabbath.

And I remember being really floored that God rested too . Yeah. Wow. And, and we see in the scriptures how much time Jesus pulled away and he made deliberate time for prayer and. And it just became really obvious to me that if I was not very intentional about those things, the little bit of sanity I had, I was holding onto, you know, was [00:05:00] you. Gonna not gonna last. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . And I really needed it too. Yeah. Um, one of the huge blessings that I had in my life at that time also is a very, very dear friend who came alongside of me and said, I think we should pray together every day. Mmm. At the time that my husband died, I had an hour commute , and uh, I switched my cell phone plan to the unlimited plan.

Mm-hmm. . And, um, you know, a lot of times the whole hour on the way to work, we would share and then pray. And, um, one of the things that we prayed all the time was, Um, Lord, you tell us that your yoke is easy. Mm. Show me what to lay down and help me find that. Mm. You know, we all really [00:06:00] want that, you know, direct letter and that zinger I heard from God very specifically.

Um, but you know, there were. For me, at that point, something was not gonna get done every day. . Mm-hmm. . And so I wanted, I just asked him, I said, I need you to show me what to lay down and what to pick up. I need you to open and close the doors. Um, you know, it gave me a completely different perspective on what it’s like for a husband to have the pressure of leading a family.

Mm. Yeah. When there I was, you know, one of the other things I had to pray was to have a new vision for the future. Mm. Because my vision for the future was, our time for us was gonna be after the kids were out of the house. Yeah. Know we were totally focused on the family, [00:07:00] you know, and the kids. And it, it’s what our source of joy was.

Mm-hmm. , you know, do I, sometimes I wish that we. You know, done a better job of dating and that kind of stuff. You know, we, but, um, my kids have happy memories with their dad and they don’t have any doubts about how deeply he loved them. And they know without a doubt that we dearly loved each other and that, um, you know, I, my hu son gave me the best present he could have ever given me. Um, this Mother’s Day, he sent me a text in the morning. He said, Mom, thanks for teaching me the importance of love and family. Mm. I was like,

He’s 20 now. Yeah. And I just, he has his dad’s heart . [00:08:00] Um, he’s maybe, A little more expressive than his dad sometimes was. But, um, you know, I’m just really thankful that in a, in the chaos and there was chaos. Mm. You know? Mm-hmm. , that choices were made to make sure that first things came first. Mm-hmm. , um, And, and it was that, you know, I’m not gonna be a big project person on the weekends.

Right. You know, it our Sabbath. So after lunch, everybody had their own quiet time. And then, You know, before dinner, while dinner was in stages, really . Mm-hmm. , who was going to youth group ate before they went and maybe brother, little brother ate with them. Maybe he [00:09:00] wanted to wait a little bit later for when it was just he and I.

Well, the girls were gone at Youth Group. Group, but that was another great thing. Sabbath for them was they connected with some amazing leaders who really poured into them. Mm-hmm. , Um, Oh, I really feel like we had a good church family.

Rachel: So the, the youngest is your son that mm-hmm. the 20 year old. Yeah. So how old was he when your husband passed away?

Lynn: He was in first grade. First grade. I think it was eight because he had already had his birthday. Okay. Always like, you know, when the birthdays are,

Rachel: it’s so confusing. Yeah. What stood out to me when you were talking is that before your husband passed away, you guys had taken these intentional moments of, of spending time with your family and cultivating those memories. And in a way, when. When you took a stand and you said, This is what Sunday’s gonna look like for us, it’s, we’re gonna [00:10:00] Sabbath in this way.

And that evolved for you over the, the years, but mm-hmm. , when you were in that moment where you just felt like, I need to do this thing, you were almost saying, I need to reconnect with God, but I also need to reconnect with my kids. Like I need to reinstate some kind of way of having that intentionality with them, those family moments.

We’re gonna sit down across from a table and we’re gonna talk to one another. We’re gonna eat a meal with each other and really be in a way that supports me in this time in the season where I’m the primary, you know, primary response person, parent is what I call it. Primary response. Parent. Mm-hmm. . I’m that person this right now.

And I, so I need something that’s not gonna just con, I need a break too, but I need a break in a way that connects me with my kids and. Really you did that for your kids and you continued it on, and now your son is able to look back and say, You really [00:11:00] showed me what it meant to love my family. Love a family.

And it all started with that, just a simple meal once a week with them. It didn’t have to be big and fancy, it just needed to be intentional. But I love that you shared about. So as you started implementing this week after week where you guys sat down and had a meal together and you had your things going on, did you, um, did it evolve at all as your understanding of Sabbath involved? Did you implement any other guide rails for the day? Like, you can’t do this, but we will do this.

Lynn: Um, I would say that there wasn’t a lot of other activities planned on Sunday. You know, Sunday afternoon was downtime. Mm-hmm. and it always had been, you know, I, I wanna be very clear that we had always had church on Sunday home.

Um, Sunday nap if we could mm-hmm. , you know, [00:12:00] and the kids didn’t necessarily nap, but they had their own quiet times. Mm-hmm. , I, we were a house of five introverts, , so everybody would just like, okay, we’ve had all, all these people at church and everything. We’re gonna have all the quiet time and then, you know, we would always share our meals.

Mm-hmm. . Um, so I didn’t put a lot of other rules or anything. I’m, I’m lucky that we didn’t have a ton of other things going on. Um, I did allow an exception when my youngest daughter was, um, Playing soccer her senior year, she got asked to play on a travel team. Mm. And there were two Sundays that she played on a Sunday.

So that was a rare exception. Mm-hmm. that I felt like, um, she was playing the goalie position and they recruited her for that. So I felt like if we’re saying yes to the team, we’re gonna have to say yes [00:13:00] to these two Sundays. Mm-hmm. , um, So,

Rachel: And did you view that as work or did you view it as like, did it take away from your family at all or did it

Lynn: enhance it?

Um, It was an exciting time because this was my kid who we didn’t let them easily quit things. Mm-hmm. , but when she had been in kindergarten and signed up for soccer, cuz everybody else did . Right. You know,

Rachel: it’s like this sport. You start with.

Lynn: Right. The. The first practice or whatever, she got hit in the head hard with the ball and it was like she was terrified to go back.

Yeah. And we really struggled with, you know, get back on the horse. Yeah. Don’t let her avoid it. Yeah. But you know, when we saw how hard that was for her, we’re like, Okay, if that’s not for you, you thought you wanted it, you know, we’re not gonna push it. But going [00:14:00] forward, We wanna be careful about making decisions and we’re gonna follow through and we say we’re gonna do things.

Mm-hmm. . Um, so when she was able to step in and had this really great friend who, she started out just helping her friend who was a goalie practice, and then she got really good at it. Mm-hmm. , and it was like, it was a win that she needed, you know? Yeah. It was, it was something. I needed to say yes to because of how it was helping her to flourish.

Rachel: And that’s, that’s, that’s kind of where I was going with that question because often we talk about the, the question always comes up about sports. What do you do about sports and Sabbath? What do you do? Because there are some teams and some sports where it is very demanding on your weekend. Yeah, and I’ve had moms come up with a myriad of [00:15:00] reasons why or why not, and, um, And what I have found is that those moms who are practicing Sabbath and their kids are involved in sports, they’ve either made a distinction of, you can play sports as long as the games are not on Sunday.

Or they’ve made the distinction, We are going to allow you to play these games as long as it’s not draining the family, or we’re gonna allow these games as long as they’re once in a while and they’re not taking time away from the family as a whole. And I just, I think that. The way that you approached it, it was very intentional.

It was acknowledging that it’s something that brings excitement and joy and, um, I wanna point that out because it’s not like the Bible is talking about soccer. You know, when it’s talking about Sabbath in the Bible, we don’t have a clear definition of is. Soccer on the weekend on Sabbath. Okay? Like, no, there’s nothing in the Bible that’s gonna tell us yes or no, but what we can do [00:16:00] is apply wisdom to the situation and we can say, My kid, this brings her, this makes her come alive when she’s playing.

Yeah, she is Sabbath because she, It is something that she’s enjoying and it’s something that she is channeling and allowing to be expressed. And I think that that’s important that we point that out. That Sabbath is about more than just a do and don’t list. It is really about the heart and. The fact that you were so intentional in the way that you made that decision and the way that you peeled back the, the onion layers and said, this allows her to flourish.

And it brings excitement and an exciting as a parent to watch that flourishing. And it’s not something that drains me as a parent. It doesn’t drain my family to go. We’re not running all around the world constantly. It was a few times, and it really allowed her to flourish into the person that God’s created her to be.

Then, yes, let’s do it. [00:17:00] And I think that intentionality is what we need to always go back to when we’re practicing Sabbath. Yeah. It’s not about the stew and don’t list. It’s about let’s be intentional with the time that we have. Yeah. Let’s make decisions about that day that points us back to God into each other and really allows us to live into our. To flourish to use the words that you used. So I appreciate that.

Lynn: Yeah, I, um, one of my best memories of her, uh, graduation open house was it started to rain . And I was like, Oh no, what are we gonna do? And I looked out on the lawn, we had the party at her grand, my husband’s, my. Husband’s family’s home. They were so gracious to us, you know?

And, um, there she was playing soccer in the rain with all of her, her soccer friends. I was like, . She’s, she’s not unhappy. She doesn’t care, even care that it’s raining today. She’s just, just, just love in life. Making the most [00:18:00] of it. So yeah, that’s

Rachel: That’s awesome. So you would go to church, you would serve in the second service, then you guys would go out for dinner, and then the rest of the time was just kind of LA and relax.

Everybody had their own quiet time. Had own quiet time, which they needed. Yeah. Like you said, I like the fact that you said that because. Now you’re a house of introverts and that you all needed some downtime. And I think that that self awareness and being aware of what your kids need too, I think that’s important.

 It sounds like you leaned into your support network a lot throughout the week, but when it came to your Sabbath, you really didn’t need to lean into them.

You, you leaned into. Your family unit, was that intentional or was that just the way that it evolved?

Lynn: It we had, That’s kind of the way it had always been. Mm-hmm. , So my husband was a pk. His dad is, was a Lutheran minister. Okay. So, you know, something that is [00:19:00] sad to me is I’ll ask staff who serve at churches.

So when do you sth mm-hmm. because they’re at church early and late and drained and exhausted and mm-hmm. , they sometimes even have an evening thing that they have to do. So, you know, that was, I would definitely say there were things that my husband had seen that were costs that his dad had paid, um, that he didn’t necessarily want the kids to experience. I don’t know. Right. But they let me be very clear that from the minute I met them, it was obvious to me that they walked the talk and lived their faith. Mm-hmm. , um, and very servant minded. Mm-hmm. , you know, um, I. [00:20:00] I don’t think that as church families, we always do a good job of taking care of our church staff to make sure that they have the time that they need to rest and recoup.

Mm-hmm. .

Rachel: Yeah, I agree with that. Agree with that a lot. So you have alluded to this idea that Sabbath really kept you sane during those, those days, you know, in the days that that followed your husband’s, um, passing. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

Lynn: so one of the things that’s hard about loss is. Um, you have these anniversaries, Mm. And all these different stages that come up. And, um, my husband passed on a, a Friday in, in the morning. Well, he had passed in the night and we found him Friday morning. Mm-hmm. and. [00:21:00] I had gone through a really difficult time where, you know, I was just hating Fridays.

Mm-hmm. . I was like, How long is this gonna last, Lord? What is going on here? I just couldn’t figure it out. It probably took me four to six months, and then one day I got home on a Friday night and I realized I miss sitting down and saying, We made it . We made it to the weekend, and it seems like such a silly little thing, but it was just this shared sigh and relief.

You know, so then when I realized that that’s what it was, it wasn’t that I was gonna hate Fridays forever, it was that I missed that moment that we had. Um, it took me quite a while, but I found a [00:22:00] Friday routine that brought some joy back. We made homemade pizza on Friday nights. Everybody got their own personal pizza with their items on.

And I was in the kitchen with the music on loud and verifying, Are we still sticking with the same favorites this week? And yeah. Um, something about like needing that dough and pressing it out and it, I’m. My husband loved to cook. Mm. And he was the better cook in the family. Mm-hmm. always will be better than I have become, but, um, so for me to find joy in the kitchen and create a tradition that everybody enjoyed, that kind of, um, that was kind of how our weekends start.

That gave me my , my, my sigh and my relief that, you know,

Rachel: the, your Sabbath really kind of started Friday.

Lynn: Yeah. It, it did. I I would run a [00:23:00] lot of errands on, on Saturdays, but it did, it started Friday night. Yeah.

Rachel: It allowed you to go into the right mindset. It allowed you to welcome the rest. Yep.

Lynn: Yeah.

Rachel: Yeah. That’s very, that’s very insightful that you recognized what it was. That was, um, , what was creating that, that sense of loss week after week, Like what it was triggering it. And so I think that’s really insightful what you said, but I think it also hearkens back to you and your friend praying every week or every day, Really, Lord, show me what I need to lay down right? And, and, um, and what I need to pick up.

And so in that moment you picked. Okay. It’s time to pick up a new tradition. It’s a new way of entering into the weekend. It’s really, really, really wise. Yeah. So pretty, it’s beautiful.

Lynn: I’m really thankful that every time I’ve had a crisis of faith or a crisis, I’ve [00:24:00] been able to lean into God. Mm.

And you know, I’ve, I’ve been real intentional about that. I pick up books about prayer a lot. You know, I, um, one thing I remember reading that really touched me deeply was that every single day, one of the things that Mother Theresa prayed was teach me to pray. Mm-hmm. . And knowing that was like this big aha moment for me was like, wow.

So I then became very intentional about learning to pray and using scriptural prayer. And, um, I did another really powerful prayer that I, habit that I had, that I learned. Um, Before my husband passed, um, was we had taken a marriage class and [00:25:00] they had talked to us about journaling prayer. I think it was a book by the Fergusons. I learned while I was journal praying, when I was really hurting about something, I, I said, Lord, this is unfair. I feel sad. I don’t know what to do, and then I flipped it. But you are just, mm-hmm. you are all loving. You are all knowing, and I know I can trust. Hmm. And praying like that. Just, you know, casting your cares on him. Mm-hmm. . And then something about that, like with my friend every day on the phone, just giving it voice. It lifts. Mm-hmm.

Rachel: It’s almost like you really. Embrace this idea of Jesus being your Sabbath rest. Right. That when we talk about cast, your cares upon him and [00:26:00] you know, his, I think what you just shared really points back to that, that prayer that you were, you’re saying that we’re trusting in his character rather than in what happens or what we do or what he. What prayers he answers or whatnot. It’s not really about all that.

It’s about trusting his character. And I think when we strip Sabbath at the, like strip it all down, it really all comes back to trusting. Trusting that God is our provider, trusting that he understands our needs, understanding that he has this really great design for how our weeks are supposed to operate.

And just trusting in all of that, trusting in his character as creator and as provider. That prayer that you just shared really highlights that, highlights that trust aspect of, of resting in him. Um, Day by day, week by week, whatever it is, But really giving all those cares and anxieties over to him [00:27:00] and saying, I don’t need, I don’t need to carry this burden.

I’m, I’m gonna rest it on your shoulders, Lord, because your shoulders can handle it, mine can’t. And really allowing him to be that rest for you. Yeah, what would you say to the woman who’s recently widowed about practicing Sabbath?

Lynn: Baby steps. Yeah. Somebody gave this to me. Um, I think it’s, it says it’s the angel of courage. Okay. Which kind of surprised me. It also surprised me that the person who gave it to me thought that I was courageous. Cause I didn’t feel courageous at all.

Mm-hmm. . But I, it was on my desk at work for a long time and um, I remember looking at it one day. Thinking, I wanna grow in these leaps and bounds. But what the reality of it [00:28:00] is, is most of us grow on baby steps our whole life. Mm-hmm. , most of us stop approaching growth the way kids trying to learn to walk through. Right. Just get up again and up again and up again. Mm-hmm. . So I, in that season, I was like, Okay, I’m gonna take baby steps. Mm-hmm. and. It changed things for me. Um, so to just, it takes so long. I don’t think you ever find a new normal. I kind of hate that phrase about it. You know? Me too. Me too. Um, so it takes a while to figure out.

What the next step in the journey is. Mm. And so it’ll look different for everybody. Mm-hmm. , you know, a lot of single moms don’t. I had the benefit of social security benefits because my husband died, but half the single moms I know don’t have financial support, [00:29:00] you know, so it may look different for her.

I remarried four years ago and my current, um, husband’s mom, she’s amazing. They, um, she has this, she’ll have everybody over Sunday after church for this big meal. You know, I was queen of casserole. She has like all the, um, the fruit, the bread, you know, all the dishes. But she plans for it the whole week.

Mm-hmm. . So she may put the pot roast in the oven before church and basically 20 minutes after your home from church, the meal’s there. That’s so you can plan it. Mm-hmm. , you know, Right now, my husband and I, we kind of plan to have leftovers all weekend. Mm-hmm. or I may make one special meal on the weekend, so it looks different for everybody.

Mm-hmm. .So I would definitely recommend, I think it’s really important to have a what if friend. Mm. [00:30:00] Somebody who can give you ideas when you’re stuck. Okay, I can try it like this. Did you ever think of that? And for whatever reason, I’ve, um, God blessed me with creativity, so I’m like, um, You know, if Plan A isn’t working, I’m thinking about plan B right away.

Rachel: Evaluating and adjusting.

Lynn: So, um, and to give everybody input, you know? Mm. You may have to do something that isn’t your first choice because you have an extrovert . Right, Right. What is different needs, you know? Um, so. I think, um, something that I think is really important in marriage that, um, doesn’t get tacked about enough is you need to go into it knowing that you’re gonna change.

Hmm. Your spouse is gonna change [00:31:00] and you’re not gonna be in control of all those changes. Hmm. So there’s a lot of loving acceptance that needs to happen. Mm-hmm. . Um, and you have to learn to hold your plans loosely.

Rachel: Has practicing Sabbath helped you do that?

Lynn: Yeah. It’s a day of letting go. Mm-hmm. and a day of renewal. Mm-hmm. , um, Yeah, I don’t think I thought of it that way, but, um, no, I’ve, I’ve had a few times in my life when I’ve been going too fast that God’s just slowed me down.

Mm-hmm. . I remember one summer I, uh, slipped and fell and had to have, um, hardware put in my leg. . Oh my goodness. And Amazon the whole summer. . Yeah. And before then we had been like [00:32:00] nonstop and we just. Absolutely slow down at that point. Mm. And, uh, I needed to be slowed down.

Rachel: I don’t like it when God does that, but when I look back and I go, Lord, you gave me exactly what I needed in that moment.

Yeah, and you had to get my attention somehow and you had to do it in a drastic way. don’t always like that, but I’ll try to pay attention better next time so we don’t have to go. So drastic ,

Lynn: you’ve had the experience of God can’t be subtle with you sometimes. Yes. Yeah. Yes, me too.

Rachel: He’s like, Rachel, I tried just kind of getting your attention, you know?

Tap, tap on the shoulder thing. Now I’m just gonna hit you over the head with the two by four. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I’ve enjoyed our conversation. Is there anything else that you would like to share before we, um, start to wrap

Lynn: up? Hmm. I think I have most of it. Um, I would say another thing that [00:33:00] Sabbath has really helped me with is, you know, I never got to be a stay-at-home mom.

Mm-hmm. and looking back, it’s good. I was able to just work and not have to step out into that new, in, in that circumstance. Mm-hmm. . But, um, I’ve had to really reevaluate, um, Not being workaholic, not finding my worth in work. Mm-hmm. . And, and that’s a whole nother layer. Mm-hmm. that, um, I think Sabbath and Right priorities help you with.

Rachel: So, good. Well, I know that you are a writer. And that people can follow you and follow your work, and I wanna make sure they go check it out because I think that you have a lot to say and a lot of wisdom to share in a beautiful way in which you share it.

And so can you let our listeners know how they could find you? Okay.

Lynn: Um, on Instagram, [00:34:00] I’m, um, Lynn matthews dot mi for Michigan. Mm-hmm. , um, I’m, Revamping my blog. I’m gonna do a, um, post on there. Um, I’ve viewed kinda my spiritual journey since high school as, um, finding the God of all comfort. Mm. And, um, so my blog is Finding the God of All comfort@blogspot.com.

Okay.

Rachel: So, um, and I’ll link to those two in the show notes. Thanks. Just so that people can get to them easily.

Lynn: Yeah. So, When I lost my best friend in high school, well actually while she was sick, best friend from high school wasn’t in high school while she was sick. Um, I created some quote books and journals that I gave her and I kind of took that and then built on it as I was asking God why. Mm-hmm. . And so I have like a, a 300 page draft of a [00:35:00] grief journal. Oh, lots of quotes, collections and prayers and little snippets about what I’ve learned. So that’ll be available this week. I’m pretty awesome. I’m pretty excited about, um, finally, um, hope writers helped me get to where I could call something finished you know, everything’s a work in progress. It is, it is. But

Rachel: um, but it’s exciting when we cross that finish line.

Lynn: Yeah, I’ve really felt like I need to share what I’ve learned every time there’s a mass shooting or Covid and Afghanistan and there’s so much loss right now.

Mm-hmm. and I really have a heart to come alongside people and, um, just walk ’em through. And it is different for everybody. Yeah. That was one of the hardest lessons for me is what I needed to do to grieve my husband was different than what my children needed and their individual needs were different. So [00:36:00] that was kind of, that was hard to work through too. Mm-hmm. you know, giving everybody the space they needed.

Rachel: Did you find that you did, did Sabbath give you any space for that grief? Or was it a time for you to press pause on the grief?

Lynn: It was probably a pause from it more than anything. Or just, I don’t think anything exhausts you the way grief does. Mm. So it was just a way to, to just rejuvenate.

Rachel: Well, Lynn, do you mind closing us in prayer?

Lynn: Oh, it’d be my pleasure. Okay. Thanks. heavenly father, thank you so much. Um, I really appreciate that you’ve laid it on Rachel’s heart to, um, help people seek what a Sabbath rest would, would look like from them. It’s, uh, pretty amazing to think that you, [00:37:00] who don’t grow weary, you who never sleep rested, um, And obviously, you know, we don’t have the kind of capacity you do.

We come to you in our weakness aware that your plans are better than ours, and we just ask that you would direct us all to find your perfect yoke to take. As many baby steps as it takes, um, as many different versions as we need to try to really, um, step into a lifestyle that brings us peace so that we can truly be still and know that you are God and that we can trust you and. That we’ve, it’s just [00:38:00] such a privilege that you offer us. I think prayer is one of the privileges that, um, believers. Don’t utilize enough. So I just ask, um, for everyone who’s listening, Lord, that you would continue to teach us all to pray, teach us all to rest, teach us all to come to know you better. We thank you that, um, you’re always out there seeking us, that you leave the 99 for the Especially for that single mom who’s struggling. Lord, I just pray that you would, um, wrap yourself around her, that she would know that she is precious to you.

And that you would guide her steps so that she could find rest, so that she can cast her cares that you would, [00:39:00] with your Holy Spirit convicts, those you would have, share her journey, share her burdens, and walk alongside, um, live in the kind of community that you created us for. We are not alone. Help us to see you alive and active in our lives, in the beauty of nature, in the blessing of our family. There are just so many ways you reveal yourself to us, Lord, and I just, I thank you that you taught us to rest. I thank you that you give us so many, um, things in your word that are solid that we can take shelter in.

We thank you for who you are and we pray your [00:40:00] kingdom come. Your will be done in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Rachel: Amen. Thank you so much. I really, I have enjoyed our conversation and I know that those listening today, there’s gonna be some women out there that your words just really resonated with and comforted. And so thank you for sharing your story with us and being so open and vulnerable with that.

Lynn: Well, I appreciate you inviting me.

Rachel: And thank you for listening in to today’s. We’ll meet back here next week as we can continue the conversation about what it looks like to implement a Sabbath rest in a world and culture that is so enslaved to hustle and hurry. Bye.

 Hey, I just want to say thank you for joining me for today’s conversation. I know many things demand your attention. I don’t take lightly the privilege it is to share your time. I want to make things as easy and simple for you. So I’ve linked to all the resources mentioned in the episode in the show notes, and you can always [00:41:00] find the link and more helpful information on my website, www.rachelfahrenbach.com.

As we say our goodbyes, let me remind you that what we’re talking about in this podcast is not just another thing to add to your to-do list. This is not another expectation for you to live up to. It is a gift out stretched from the hand of your creator. An invitation to press pause on walking alongside Jesus in all the things He’s called you to do. And instead the down, across from Him and just be with Him.

It is an invitation to Simply Sabbath.