Shabbat.

Shabbat is the Hebrew word for sabbath (The "H" letter just likes to bounce around and suddenly you're speaking ancient Hebrew...).

My Sabbath is always Tuesday.

But there is a tension.

Sabbath comes from an old testament law that the Jewish people observed (They got it from God's "seventh day" and it was created for rest). Every seventh day, the Jewish people had over a hundred individual laws that they could not break just for this day alone.

It would almost have taken more effort to keep the Sabbath in all it's fullness than to live a day of work. The rest that it was designed for was manipulated into a religious mindset.

But there is a tension.

We are no longer under the law, but the Law was the heart of God before our redemption was made complete.

My heart is to take a Holy day, a day set apart from the rest, intended for rest... A day that is dedicated to God.

That day is today. Tuesday for me.

In an effort to find the divine tension between living a Holy day of rest, and yet not to make it a religious practice, I have boiled myself down a short definition (yet it is subject to change):

On Tuesday, Kendall doesn't do anything that he must do, and everything he does is done out of choosing God first.

That is a shabbat to me. Today I rest. Today I set apart. Today I praise the King of Glory. Today I do only what is optional. Today I do nothing that I have to do.

Shabbat.

Cyper spayed.

I just deleted my myspace account of four years... I'm loving it.

I was getting nothing out of it and there were too many "you need a girlfriend" dating ads...

I could give you a hundred other reasons why I'm done with it but, none of them would change your life or spread the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Now raising the dead and cleansing the lepers... that's a different story.

all healed up.

I've been very sick.

Seriously. No fun. My aching body!

So let me spare you some time and give you a bullet point summary.

*Sore throat, runny nose, headaches, body aches, no energy, fever, chills, and more.

*Prophetic word from yesterday "Pain comes in the night, but joy comes in the morning"

*Prophetic word from yesterday "an acquaintance will give you an unexpected gift"

*Worked at 4am this morning. Not fun.

*On a break, an old acquaintance prayed for me.

*Back to work: No runny nose, no aches, tons of energy, body temp is normal...

*Healed!

Done.

Senses.

It's common sense.

We all have a sense to be valued.

We all have a sense to be loved.

We all have a sense to be respected.

We all have dreams.

I am learning what it means to have a vision larger than myself, a dream bigger than I can accomplish alone, and a love for those around me that's not focused on what is in me.

These things keep me ticking.

They are the parts of me that I am cultivating with God.

He is my strength.

He is my shield.

He is my victory.

He is my Dad, my Friend, my Lover.

He is my purpose, my vision, my dream.

He is my duracell battery.

Yet,

Yet he has placed us in relationship for a reason.

Yet he has given us family.

Yet he has given us choice.

He has well equipped us, he has well encouraged us, and he has well named us.

The Name that I carry is the Name above all names.

His name is my inheritance. He is my family, and a name carries identity.

Christ is my identity.

That is my choice, my gift, and my Inheritance.

What identity did you choose to live by today? God says one thing about you and the world says another. Which one I agree with determines which one I live under.

Our choice is more powerful than I have yet come to realize.

Worth it?

It is one of those days...

One of the days where I think to myself, was it worth it last night?

One of those days where my eyelids feel like dropping and my teeth still taste like stale cigar and earl gray tea...

One of those days where my stomach rumbles consistently...

One of those days where I watched a sunrise, a sunset, and a sunrise before my eyes closed their lids...

Board games for half a day... straight...

Beautiful sunrise, beautiful people, the most loyal of friends, cigars at 6:30am, homework in between games, pancakes that look more like mangled biscuits, ping pong in the early hours, these are a few of my favorite things.

Catan Church

Tonight at the stirring Nate brought home my favorite subject: Unity in the church. Honoring other Churches.

Afterward we took spirituality to a new level via our new "Church planters of Catan" board game craze.

Basically we play Settlers of Catan and talk about church planting.

"I'm trading two sheep for one wheat... I've got wood too..."

A great game.

God gets glory when Christian men unite in Settlers...