Day of Rest

8 Remember to dedicate the Sabbath day: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.
Ex 20:8-11 (HCSB)

Here is one formula for creating a day of rest…

READ for enjoyment. Read the Bible; read the newspaper; read the magazine and book that you have been saving for your “vacation”. Just read what you WANT to read and leave the rest until another day.

EAT for nourishment. Don’t just think of your physical nourishment, but think of your spiritual and psychological nourishment also. Gather with your family and eat together. Talk and share during this time, especially if it is rare that you are eating together at all.

SLEEP for satisfaction. Give yourself permission to nap in the afternoon or go to bed really early, just because you want to!

THANK GOD for obedience. There is nothing in our lives that comes to us apart from God. Think about all the blessings you have in your life, today – right this moment, and thank God for them. He desires our praise and thanksgiving and you will be blessed just by the act of doing it.

Workout Thoughts

8:47 a.m. IN THE CARPOOL LINE TO DROP OFF AT PRESCHOOL
“If I can get to the gym and one of the better treadmills is open, I’ll be going by 9:05 a.m.”

8:51 a.m. PULLING OUT OF THE PRESCHOOL PARKING LOT
“OK. I am making good time. What a pretty day…I’ll open the sunroof. Now, let me change to my radio station…”

8:59 a.m. PARKING AT THE GYM
“What is that they say about parking as far away from the door as you can? That is supposed to help burn extra calories, right? Great, there is a spot right up front! I’ll take that one.”

9:01 a.m. STARTING IS THE HARDEST PART
“Signed in…treadmill is open…good. Hang jacket, fire up my iPod…I am a little bit early. Maybe I’ll be out of here by 10:00 a.m…Oh, yeah, today is my day to catch up and do 60 minutes. I hate those days!”

9:04 a.m. AM I HAVING FUN YET?
“I should probably add a couple of extra minutes to the timer so that I can REALLY walk at my workout speed for the full 60 minutes. I don’t how those elliptical machine people can do those things. It hurts me just to watch.”

9:06 a.m. UP TO SPEED
“Should I go faster than 3.0 today? I always think I could do better than that, but I am never comfortable when I speed up to more than 3.1 or 3.2. I know, I’ll go up to 4.0 and run a little bit and then back off.”

9:06:34 WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS?
“I am not a runner. What am I doing running at this speed? I have only been going for about 17 seconds here. I should try to make at least 1 minute on the running part.”

9:07 a.m. GOOD ROUND NUMBER
“OK. That was fun. The timer just got to a new minute…that’s a good round number and a good place to stop running.”

9:11 a.m. HELLO DOUBLE DIGITS!
“OK. I made it to 10 minutes. I am 1/6 finished and, if I want to, I can stop at 30 minutes so that means that I am already 1/3 finished. I really shouldn’t stop at 30 minutes, but I like knowing that I can. Maybe I’ll do 40 minutes here and 25 on the bike?”

9:15 a.m. I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I DO FEEL BETTER
“Why am I doing this again? I am sweaty and I would rather be doing something else (like eating a cheese pastry and reading the newspaper at Panera)! I don’t like being sweaty. I need to remember to get a towel when I come in next time. If anyone asks, I’ll have to admit that exercising does make me feel better, but I don’t like doing it. I DON’T THINK I EVER WILL!”

9:21 a.m. TWENTY MINUTES AND COUNTING
“All I HAVE to do is 10 more minutes…I can do that…no big deal. At least I’ll be out of here in time to get to the store on my way home. Now, what do I need at the store? I really need to make a list and I don’t have time to make a list. Maybe we’ll go out tonight (again) and I’ll go to the store tommorrow. I wonder which I dislike more – cooking or working out?”

9:29 a.m. CLOSE TO 30
“I can’t stop at just 30 minutes. I’ll do at least 35.”

9:36 a.m. DECISION TIME
“I don’t feel too bad. I think I’ll do 10 more minutes. I wish I could 1½ checks on my goal tracker. I don’t like having to do either 30 or 60 to get credit. Maybe I’ll e-mail that guy and see if he can change that.”

9:38 a.m. MUSIC OR TALK
“At least I can catch up on my talk radio while I am walking. I would never be able to listen to these shows uninterrupted at home. I LOVE podcasts! I might walk better if I had music though. Maybe I need to load a workout playlist? OR, I could just mix some music in between the podcasts that I have downloaded…I think I’ll definitely see if I can find an applause clip to play every 10 minutes. If I think people are clapping for me, maybe it will inspire me.”

9:44 a.m. AM I SKINNY YET?
“Oh man do I hate this! It’s better than the balance ball (that thing almost killed me) but not much. It shouldn’t be too long before I can walk outside some. I work harder when I come here, but it is more interesting to see the real world. Maybe 3 days here and 3 days out…”

9:46 a.m. KEEP GOING?
“I can do 15 more minutes…I’ll slow down a little now and that will help…”

9:50 a.m. AUTOPILOT
“Dave Ramsey just makes me smile! I cannot believe that people will call in and tell the whole world the stuff they tell him. I am not sure I would have enough guts to do that.”

9:56 a.m. PAT ON THE BACK
“Yes, I hate doing this. Yes, I wish I could skip it. Yes, I am proud of myself when I finish each day. Keep going, just 5 more minutes.”

9:59 a.m. THE LONGEST PART
“These last 2 minutes always feel like 2 days. I wish I could walk with my eyes closed so I would not look at the timer so much. If I closed my eyes, I would definitely lose my bearings and ride right off the back of this thing!

10:00 a.m. COUNTING DOWN
“I am happier about this countdown than ANY New Year’s Eve party I have ever been involved with. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…

10:01 a.m. NO PROBLEM
“That feels pretty good…I don’t know why I don’t do 60 minutes every day! OK, now on to my cheese pastry!”

About Books

Think about your books for a minute. How many books do you think you have? How many books do you think your children have? Do you have bookshelves that are overflowing and closets that are storing books you don’t use anymore? Now, think about your local libraries. Do they have enough books? What about the libraries in your children’s schools? Are they well-stocked?

Throughout my life, I have been incredibly blessed to have access to all the books that I needed to be a successful student. More than that, I have had (and still have) more books in my home than I could ever count. Consequently, my skill for reading has been developed and my love for reading has grown and been nourished. How blessed I am!

But what about people that cannot afford to purchase books for their homes? What about people that don’t need books because they cannot read? What about the people that would like to read more but cannot find enough books to read?

Yesterday, I had a chance to participate in an event that will make a difference in the lives of people that want to read and learn but lack adequate resources to do so. The Children’s Literacy Guild of Alabama distributed over 375 boxes of new and gently used books to librarians from 13 different school systems in the Black Belt of Alabama. There was no charge to the schools and their only responsibility was to pick them up!

I have no question that there are libraries, schools, and families all over this nation that want and need books…ANY books they can get their hands on! Do yourself a favor, go through your books and find some that you can live without. Then, FIND someone that can use them and give them away. If you do, you will plant seeds that will allow someone else’s love for reading to grow!

Here are a few places needing books. Start here if you don’t have someone close by …

Hurricane Katrina Library Relief
Friends of Libraries U.S.A
Gulf Coast Libraries After Katrina
DonorsChoose.org
Dolly Parton Imagination Library
Reading Is Fundamental

One more thing, send me your stories of how you share your books. I would love to know what needs are out there and how little gifts might meet them!