One thing I am trying to prepare myself mentally to embrace is my upcoming family vacation. My wife, my dad and I are all headed on a week-long fishing getaway in northern Minnesota, and it’s long overdue. Andie and I have never even enjoyed a honeymoon, let alone a vacation; our only getaways in our first three and a half-plus years of marriage have all been crisis-related. So the chance to get away will be long overdue and most welcome.
However, I’ve lately realized just how hard I’ve been pushing myself when my wife and I came to loggerheads over when to leave and when to return. Andie, understandably, wants to make the most of our time away and leave as early as possible, and come back only when we have to.
I, however, am so used to sacrificing for others that I insisted we not leave until after the Sabbath and I also campaigned to come back in time for the next Sabbath, cutting our getaway one overnight’s stay short.
My wife was generous, willing to meet me halfway when it came to leaving after the Shabbat is over; but she insisted I meet her halfway, too, and not come back until we’ve enjoyed our full time away.
Initially, I got too big for my breeches and resisted. But I’m slowly, slowly, slowly starting to learn to listen to my wife.
“Other than responding to family crises,” she reasoned, “we have served and served and served. You make sacrifices all the time for others. We can miss one Shabbat to enjoy some time away.”
And, of course, she’s right. When one is in the mindset of serving God, it gets hard to realize that a job is a job, and sometimes you need a “Shabbat of rest” even when that means missing a Shabbat with your congregation. I’ve now come to believe God is trying to teach me something important about His Shabbat through this, so, hard as it may be for me, I’m going to honor my wife’s request, meet her halfway, and miss a Sabbath of serving, in order to really experience rest.
Even God rested as our example; it’s time for me to follow His lead.
Tags: fishing vacation, shabbat