Jenni on Skype: jclayville 
I took Chance and Paxton in to get their haircut today… just in time for the holidays.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Maybe now, strangers will stop asking me if my little “girl” is one yet. Um… he’s wearing ALL BOY CLOTHES? I digress.
Sometimes… all we need is a “clean-up” to feel a bit better.
I know when my whole house is a mess, if I just clean up my kitchen counters, sweep and wipe everything down (15 minutes worth of work), I’ll immediately feel better and have a new outlook.
Life works a bit differently.
Or does it?
My life is jam packed full of… well.. LIFE.
It’s not just my schedule… it’s my whole family’s, seeing that I’m the CEO of my home AND the Worship Pastor of my church. If you’re like me, you find yourself scheduling in drop-off & pick-ups to and from pre-school, doctor’s appointments, counseling appointments, staff meetings, worship band practices, girlfriend time, date nights with Brian, small group, bible studies, play groups… and the list goes on. When do you find time to just BE?
About a month ago, I had enough of the rat race. I had almost lost everything once… I wasn’t about to spiral out of control again. So, I chose rest.
TUESDAYS.
I schedule NOTHING on Tuesdays. Why Tuesday? I don’t know… I can’t do Sunday because I work at a church. Saturdays are family days and prep days for Sundays. Monday, Wednesday and Friday is school for Chance. Mondays are usually also my “hangover from the weekend” day. Thursday is counseling with Brian and small group. So, Tuesday was the big winner!
It’s my Sabbath. It’s the day I invest in my family.
No grocery shopping
No stressful housekeeping
No play dates
No girlfriend dates
No prepping for worship services
No cleaning out my email inbox (though I may read them during the kids’ naps)
Instead, the kids and I do whatever we want… together.
We play
We sleep
We watch movies
We read
We talk about God
We make up stories
We dream
And when the kids nap, I drink in His Word.
I have no deadlines on Tuesday.
And when I get that urge of anxiety of NEEDING to do something… I just write it down on my list of “to-do’s” for Wednesday. It works. I need it. To be better wives, husbands, parents, friends, leaders, servants…We ALL need it.
Because, if you don’t… you need to clean up so you can!
So about a month ago eh? So you know it was a Tuesday play-date at our house just over a month ago that probably pushed you over the edge right?
Seriously, I think a “down day” is so healthy, keep it up.
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jenni Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
you were our LAST tuesday playdate over a month ago. seriously!!!
you know what’s funny? two weeks before our playdate (because it was rescheduled) was when i started slowly clearing out my tuesday schedule. so the week we planned that playdate was supposed to be our FIRST tuesday sabbath… but since we rescheduled, it ended up being the following week.
that tuesday we had our playdate was still a MILLION times more chill than what we had before then.
funny you would bring that up!
hahahahaha!
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I don’t have a sabbath. I just go, go, go.
However, as I’m changing the paths of my life, I’m going to make one. Just not sure which day yet.
Thanks Jenni. 
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ya, i dont have a sabbath…and i should. its funny that when i left full time church ministry i guess i thought i didnt need it anymore..but clearly i was wrong.
dangit!
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jenni Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
if you don’t make time for it… your schedule will find a way to fill itself.
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I’m guilty of not taking a Sabbath. I recently went a long stretch without taking a Sabbath and I paid for it, not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. When I finally brought my head up out of the water, God graciously reminded me that when I don’t take a Sabbath, I arrogantly tell God I don’t need Him. By not resting I communicate that if I’m not doing it, it won’t get done or it won’t get done the “right” way and that is arrogant. God is still in control and I need to trust that even if I take a day of rest, my life and my work won’t come crashing in around me. Your post is a good reminder. Thank you!
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jenni Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
girl… i KNOW what you’re saying. EXACTLY!!!
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Jenni, it’s because he’s so beautiful that people think he’s a girl! :] Take it as a compliment, but immediately set them straight!
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jenni Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
hahahahaha! that’s a good way to look at it
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Can I just say.. I love Paxtons shoes!!!! Your kids are adorable.. and never looked/look like girls. Its awesome that you take a real day off. I need to start doing that. That is probably one of the most difficult things to do though.
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jenni Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
mel – i LOVE pax’s shoes too! they were chance’s and when he outgrew them, i cried. now i’m happy again.
you know what else would make me happy? a date with you and your girls! i miss you!
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i love the idea of a day with no to-do lists or deadlines. that’s a practical way i can implement a sabbath rest in my life.
love you, friend.
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jenni Reply:
November 26th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
love you back! let’s sabbath together
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Appearantly God is trying to make a point to me about rest. Our pastor just spent three weeks on rest and Biblical sabbath.
“Biblical sabbath is more than merely ceasing from working, but actively pursuing refreshment in Jesus.”
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I wrote a whole post about me doing a bad job of keeping the Sabbath. I don’t think Paxton looks any different after his haircut. He is STILL freakin’ cute though. I can’t wait to see them in personnnnnn!
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I need to work in a Sabbath for real…. working too hard, working too long… one day I woke up to go to work and got bad feels in my stomach… had a week off from work.
I need to refocus my attention on the Lord. I was reading Deut. 5 this morning – “You shall have no other gods besides me…” What else is my god besides the Lord? Work? Probably….
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