Habits, routines, traditions- they’re deeply formative. There’s a saying: “show me your habits, and I’ll show you your future”. The things we do regularly shape us. They also determine what we’re not doing regularly, which also determines the direction we’re going and thus our future.
-If I’m regularly eating real food instead of processed junk, my physical, mental and hormonal health are going to be improved because of it.
-If I regularly stay calm and respectful when correcting and disciplining my children as opposed to losing my temper and grasping for control by yelling and insulting, our family and relationships with each other will be vastly better.
-If I regularly get outside for a walk instead of sitting on the couch with my smartphone, I will be stronger and probably happier years down the line.
Our day-to-day and week-to-week lives directly impact who we are becoming.
I want to share two weekly routines that have been life-giving and life-changing for our family. These routines are how we spend our weekends. Most of us have a two day weekend. That’s about 100 days of the year! We’ve found that harnessing these days can be a tremendous service to our family.
We took a Dave Ramsey class a few years ago and I remember one of his main points was that “every dollar needs a name”, meaning you need to budget every bit of your money; if you recieve a $100 bonus, you don’t just add it to your total income and think its extra; instead, you assign it to a part of your budget- savings, fun, house repairs, etc.- otherwise, and we all know this, money has a strange way of just disappearing!
The same can be said of our days off. We all know the feeling of getting to Sunday evening and thinking, “it’s already gone? I had such big plans!”
Giving our hours and days a “name” (a specific purpose and plan for how we will use them), helps them not to slip away unintentionally.
So, here are the names we’ve given our days off:
1. Project Day
For us, this is Saturday. There have been years in Justin’s law-enforcement career when this was a Tuesday or whatever, but right now it’s the common first day of the weekend. This is the main contributor to us being able to accomplish much of the work there is to be done on our land/homestead. Even before we moved out here, this is the only way we accomplished home and yard updates and renovations.
We usually have an ongoing list of things that need to be done around here that’s too much to squeeze into the middle of the week or too big for the kids and me alone. Fix a plumbing issue; put up a new fence; build a new milk stall; clean the garage; pull weeds in the orchard. During the week we plan what this week’s Project Day will hold depending on priorities and importance. Now, a day that would have slipped away is used. This past Saturday, for example, on the list was to build new stairs for the back door and addition. This is something we’ve needed to do for months but would never find the time for otherwise.
2. Sabbath
This is the most important one. If we had to choose only one practice of the two (which we’ve had to do before), this is the one that gets first rank. As Christians, we know we’re not bound by the law (read the book of Romans for clear insight on this!), so Sabbath isn’t required by any means for our salvation. But, as it is a day of worship and remembering all God has done and delighting in Him and all the good He’s given, why would we not choose to practice Sabbath? It would be like a kid choosing not to open one of their birthday presents “because they don’t have to”!
God rested on the seventh day and made a model of that for us. He obviously didn’t have to rest, He’s God. So we believe there’s something vitally important for us in remembering to rest in Him. We set aside work- all the things we have to do that won’t last- and set our eyes more fully on our Savior. We savor extra good food, worshipful music, intentional fellowship with other believers, uncommonly beautiful places and more-than-usual focus on all that is good. For our family, we start Sabbath Saturday night with a big Shabbat meal- a feast- steaks, grilled veggies, sourdough rolls, ice cream. Then Sunday morning I usually take a leisurely walk while others sleep in, we have a big breakfast and go to church; sometimes we’ll spend time after church with close friends. Sometimes we’ll come home and just enjoy rest. Nap, play guitar, listen to the Bible on audio, scrapbook, garden, build legos, read. Sometimes we’ll go somewhere beautiful like the river or the lake or the mountains. We try to stay off phones, refrain from shopping/consumerism, and forego normal-week work. We don’t usually watch TV, but lately we’ve been watching a few Andy Griffith episodes on Sabbath afternoons. Finally, we usually go for a family walk together in the evening before we call it to a close with a prayer of thanks, then we clean up and get ready for the week ahead of us.
It’s been about five years that we’ve been regularly doing Project Day and Sabbath! It’s been incredible to see what God’s made us able to accomplish and the ways He’s grown us spiritually as we’ve set up these two days to be rhythms in our year!
Jennifer Blacklock 
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