resting – Naphtalia

Not only do I believe in the necessity of the weekly Sabbath, I believe that being able to take a true Sabbath means that we cultivate a restful and renewable rhythm of life.

Below you’ll see quick start ideas for developing this time of mindset in children:

1. Take one minute of complete silence each day at noon (or right after lunch, right before nap time, or between morning snack and playtime). You probably don’t want to stretch your kids by making them sit in silence for a minute while they’re hungry. It’s hard enough for them to not talk.

2. Have them (each–if you don’t have too too many kids) write down an activity that they regularly LOVE doing. Think: coloring, swinging at the park, playing the piano, or reading a book with you. Write that activity down on your house calendar on the day you have designated for Sabbath. (If you don’t have a big calendar hanging in the kitchen, think about adding one.) When you reach that day, make sure you accomplish that activity with your child. Chances are this won’t be work for you because you probably enjoy doing these things with them anyway. Be sure you show the children that the day before Sabbath, you accomplished set tasks in order to be free to do their activity. Have your child choose a task to complete the day before their activity as well.

3. Write in huge letters on your calendar, or post a big sign on your refrigerator that says “NO CHORES DAY. WE ARE RESTING AND ENJOYING BEING TOGETHER. PRAISE THE LORD FOR REST.” Kids will obviously be excited to know that you have thoughtfully decided to free them of the burden of chores. They love this release. However, kids also can get overly excited and think they can then do EVERYTHING they think of doing–and they think of tons of fun activities. To help them learn to rest, have them choose only one or two activities to enjoy that day. Perhaps your 8 year old loves to read and ride bike. Tell her she can do either activity as long as she likes, but she needs to split them up between before and after lunch. (Of course she could read, bike before lunch then bike and read after lunch.)

I will keep mulling on this idea of teaching kids about the Sabbath and rest and see what else I come up with. Most of my ideas so far apply to kids ages 2.5-8. I am considering the predicament of infants in this as well, so don’t worry! Please feel free to add your ideas below.

Happy rejuvenating!

Oh yes, I also wanted to share these thoughts on sound via TED. Take note of the impact of bird songs. Why not include nature in our rhythms of rest?

I finished a large music festival the first week of May with the high school choir that I teach. It was exactly what I expected it to be. Large numbered choirs with near perfect vowel sounds and heartfelt teachers whose only non-reservation was “last year” and “next year” comments.

The next week was full of intense rehearsals, including choreography for our Spring Pops concert. Between missing kids and huge attitudes, we somehow pulled it together enough. We even handed out some awards.

Then came another seven rehearsals to prepare our original (composed special for our choir) song for graduation. Each day, I put all my energy into teaching notes and persuading students that the song was worth learning. One by one, they got on board.

Our final day of class, which included an individual performance test, was fantastic. I had never seen those kids happier and more cohesive. I was pumped for them and for graduation. Reading their finals, I realized just how much these students had grown this year. About 95 percent of them wrote something to the effect of, “I have never been as confident as I am now because of choir.”

Graduation day came and we gathered to sing together one last time. I noticed many of my students in weak and emotional states; a stark contrast from two days before at our final. Sadly, one of our graduating seniors (not a choir member) lost his life the night before graduation.

The student body was clearly shaken in the wake of the tragedy. I was also shaken.

This past week, I found myself tethered to my bed each morning and up far too late at night. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was from the wake of May and graduation until I woke up this morning and felt myself again.

It is a blessing to be silent, to hold your tongue, to at least pause. Proverbs talks about the wisdom of no comments. I see myself protected by a closed gate over and over again. But oh, do I long for a space to spill my coffee!

Tag: resting

Resting Kids

Some Space