Today Was Simple

Today was simple.

It was a simple Saturday.

I began the day by sleeping in, which was much needed after a busy week! I woke up and lounged in bed enjoying the slow start to my day. Finally I got up and enjoyed a nice cup of espresso at about 10am. 

I’ve always been more of a morning person than a night person, so I used to think staying in bed this last was a waste of time. By 10am I would have already finished half a day’s worth of work! But not on my day off; not on my Sabbath. 

Rest is the only thing I had scheduled today.

After a brunch of waffles I continued on with my slow, simple Saturday. I turned on one of my favorite shows, Law & Order: SVU, to watch Olivia Benson and her team stand up for victims and fight for their voices to be heard. I scrolled TikTok to listen to all the newest theories surrounding Taylor Swift’s latest album release, The Tortured Poets Department. 

For the rest of the day, I continued to enjoy the simple pleasures of my life in this season. I went to Target to pick up a Lunchables–the cheese and crackers is one of my guilty pleasures! I started reading a new book that’s been on my list for awhile. I sat outside with my husband and watched the sunset. 

Simple days like this can sometimes be hard for me. I tend to be highly productive and focused on achieving. So although I have a rhythm of rest and Sabbath, and simplicity is one of the main values in my life, it can still be hard to rest. I know I could do other, more productive things. There’s a million other things I can do on a Saturday that would move me forward in my life or career. 

But I also know that the purpose of my life is not to always be producing. I know that to have value in this world, I don’t have to always be doing something of perceived value. 

I’m valuable because God said I am; because he made me that way, and because Jesus echoed it. 

I know that rest is a vital part of a thriving life, even though it’s not always easy. I know that simplicity is what makes me feel my best, even though it’s against the American dream. Both rest and simplicity are heretical to hustle culture, but maybe so am I. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Resist the urge to get everything done and accomplish your whole to-do list before you just exist as a human being who is lovingly, fearfully, wonderfully created by God.

I think this is the message God gave me to preach because he knows I need to hear it over and over again.

Today was simple. It was a Sabbath Saturday, full of rest, rejuvenation, joy, and simplicity. And it was part of a purposeful life.