My Year of Shmita: July Update

July. An unexpected rollercoaster ride of high highs and low lows. I entered the month hoping to relax …my approach to relaxing. I wanted to get better about embracing rest when it came my way, but then not stressing about going out of my way to identify extra opportunities to rest. (Ironically, my attempts at rest can sometimes start feeling like work.)

Overall it was a very unusual start to the summer and likely offers a taste of what is ahead for us in this stage of parenting. Namely, more independence! Most summers I spend July and August shuttling kids to swim lessons and soccer practice and playdates and packing all. the. stuff. required for a family trip to the beach. If I’m not driving, I’m trying to balance screen time, cook food (they’re extra hungry in the summer), doing laundry, or sweeping sand up off the floor. But this July was spent either parenting one child, or none!

While I accomplished a lot in our week home solo, it was also deeply restful. I think one of the clear pathways to rest for parents is to NOT HAVE TO PARENT!

*Here is a post I wrote about announcing my Year of Shmita and my January, February , March, April, May and June recaps.

MONTHLY NOTES

• Planning. A lot of planning went into sorting out our schedules this summer and that planning took a lot of time. I wanted and needed to have a structured summer, and that’s exactly what we’ve had but, interestingly, I also feel like I have more space for spontaneity (which reflects a rested mind?). With a framework in place, I’m able to colour inside the lines with whatever colour I choose. A sunset here, an ice cream there, a last minute playdate. Knowing I have structure and routine sketched out allows me to be more flexible with decisions within those confines.
• Summer rest. I found myself noting how certain seasonal things signify summer rest to me. Buying ice cream (it’s an event to go to the store; it fills time, it’s fun, it feels special). Turning on the hose on a hot day (entertains the kids and no sand!). Simple meals. I have made more grilled cheese sandwiches in July than I have made in the last 13 years of parenting. I have simplified our menu to the barest of bones for the summer and that feels restful. Going out for ice cream or turning on the sprinkler wouldn’t feel restful in January, and I appreciated reframing how some forms of rest have a limited window within each year.
• Therapy. I had some big things to process this month and despite summer vacation schedules, I was able to arrange two appointments with my therapist. Sometimes therapy seems like really hard work. Confronting my fears and issues head on while also realizing many things are entirely out of my control. But, despite the hard work, I realize that therapy helps deliver emotional rest. So often I focus on physical rest – is my body getting enough down time, am I getting enough sleep? But emotional rest is equally important.
• Music. Speaking of emotional rest, this month I officially noted that music is one of the best ways for me to achieve mental rest. More specifically, lyrical music. Songs often put into words complex thoughts I believed were impossible to express; when I hear an artist singing a song that encapsulates a current truth in my life, it feels liberating.
• Parenting in the unexpected (+cashing in on investments). Planning is great (see above), but sometimes things happen that are so unexpected (tragedy, pneumonia) everything structured can fly out the window. When life isn’t going the way I planned, one way to achieve some semblance of rest is to give myself extra grace in how I parent. We prioritize quality time with our kids and fill their lives with lots of adventure…which means they can spend an entire day on screens when I need to get caught up on work and take a nap. We cook great meals, which means it’s fine to serve grilled cheese everyday at lunch for a week. We do lots of things directly with our kids, which means it’s fine to plan/pay for fun that is executed by someone else. Mostly, it’s a matter of asking myself what I have energy for and then living within the answers.

A MOVIE I WATCHED THAT RELATED TO SABBATH

This is the part of my Shmita posts where I generally discuss books I’ve read that relate to Sabbath, but in keeping with summer tradition, my book consumption has nosedived. I do have a movie to discuss!

One rainy Saturday afternoon we had a family movie date and watched Chariots of Fire. I grew up watching this movie regularly, but hadn’t seen it in well over a decade. What a delight to revisit that classic with my children. And, of course, the lynchpin of the film is the true story of one Christian’s refusal to break the Sabbath.

This past Sunday, when I happened to catch some track and field events at the Paris Olympics, I found myself reflecting on the fact that Eric Liddell wouldn’t have been competing today!

While I came across many passages in my Bible that related to rest, none stood out this month. But one story was fitting. I was reading in 2 Kings, which details the near-constant siege of Israelite cities. During one conflict, a servant of the prophet Elisha woke up to find an army of horses and chariots and soldiers had arrived during the night, surrounding the city walls. Not surprisingly, he starts to panic and despair, calling frantically to Elisha asking what they can do to protect their city (and lives). Elisha tells him not to be afraid: “the army that fights for us is larger than the army that fights for the enemy“. And then Elisha asks God to open the servant’s eyes so he can see. Which, surely to the servant, felt asinine since he could clearly see and he was seeing DANGER.

And then I read the next verse and my jaw dropped open (I didn’t remember reading this passage before, though surely I have): The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha! (2 Kings 6:17b)

Having a) just watched a movie called Chariots of Fire and b) having just weathered a situation where I didn’t necessarily feel God’s presence, this verse made my heart leap. It was such a touching and personal reminder that God is working in ways I don’t always understand and can’t always see. Reflecting on the presence of “chariots of fire” has been a real boost to my spirit lately, so even though it doesn’t directly relate to rest…the idea of being able to see a supernatural army that was there all along protecting the terrified servant (symbolic of me!) feels restful. Once he knew the truth, he could relax and let God handle the outcome – my goal as a Christian.

And that’s a wrap on my July Shmita…only five months to go!