A Re-Commitment to Sabbath Rest...

My Parents were born and raised in the Philippines, poor and uneducated.  They came to Hawaii as teenagers not knowing any English.  My dad did not even the national Filipino language: Tagalog.  They both worked hard to make a living and provide “a good life” for us; and they succeeded!  My entire life I was raised to value hard work.  On the other hand, I concluded (by my own choice) that lazy people were bad and the worst sinners of all.  I became prideful in being a hard worker.  I became resentful to anyone who wasn't working as hard as I thought they should have been working.  I know, it's madness.  Just let me finish my story :)

I have struggled my entire life with Sabbath rest; namely, to stop working when I should stop working - on the Sabbath.  I am addicted to business/work and do not need sleep to function well.  This is a bad combination for someone who equates all cessation of work as laziness and therefore sinfulness.  

At some point in adolescence, I equated fun with “not work” and therefore sinful.  Still to this very day, I struggle with telling my wife my morning workout is surfing because it is fun.  I hear the voice in my head, "If you say you're going surfing, people will see it as you're just having fun when you should be working; therefore, you are sinning. The truth is, God took a Sabbath rest once the work was done.  He rested.  And since that which is important to my boss IS important to me, I ought to take Sabbath rest seriously - as in, not an option.  

The Bareng family rhythm for 2017 will be to commit to gospel centered community by being consistently physically and mentally present.  We will make time for our Wednesday community group, Sunday gatherings and learning to stop working once the “work week” is done.  We will “do life” together and make time for things that are "fun" and reject any temptation to bring work into resting endeavors (i.e. retreats, outings, having community group members over for a lunch or dinner).  

I will commit to playing with my kids when I get home rather than "getting things done" around the house.  I will commit to looking into my kids eyes often and reject the temptation to pick up a device or a phone at the expense of fellowship with my children.  I choose to take my wife on dates, which has been waaaaaay overude.

All and all, I commit to following the footsteps of God.  Take a break, take a rest, take a sabbath rest.