Dude Skill #6: REST – Part 5
#35 IN MY SERIES OF POSTINGS DEDICATED TO SUMMARIZING A WONDERFUL BOOK ENTITLED “THE DUDE’S GUIDE TO MARRIAGE: TEN SKILLS EVERY HUSBAND MUST DEVELOP TO LOVE HIS WIFE WELL” BY DARRIN & AMIE PATRICK.
Continued from my blog on July 18, 2023…
What Do I Do On The Sabbath?
When you observe the Sabbath, you cease from what is duty. Now, I’m not saying that you tell the kids to make their own mac and cheese. I’m not saying that you ignore some of your responsibilities. I’m saying that you don’t do what you don’t have to do.
Do Get Away From Media
I read about a Detroit newspaper that offered $500 to 120 families if they would refrain from watching TV for a month as part of a marketing deal. What’s interesting is that 93 of the 120 turned down the offer. But the 27 who accepted reported that it was a life-changing decision for their families.
Not a big TV watcher? How about video games? Movies? YourTube? Whatever media you need to turn off, turn it off. Get away from your phone. You may experience PPV all the time. It sounds like an un-curable disease, but it stands for phantom phone vibration. Your leg starts vibrating, and you think it’s your phone, but it’s not there.
Your body is responding to something that’s not there because your phone is always buzzing. What if you got away from your phone? I know you like your smartphone, but it distracts you from what is most important.
Do Be Intimate With Your Wife
Some sects of Judaism literally said you should have sex four times on the Sabbath. My wife thinks that’s pretty extreme. But his is the time, couples, for you to connect physically without the burden and hurry of the world. enjoy each other physically. I am not just talking about sex. Stay in bed longer in the morning. Don’t be rushed. Just lie there and talk.
When Amie and I go on vacation, we certainly love the beach or the mountains or the city that is our destination. We love new activities and new places. But the best part is just hanging out in our room, talking, reading, and watching TV. The marriage bed is all about intimacy. Sometimes that involves sex; sometimes it doesn’t
Don’t Be Rushed
Just relax. Practice slowing down. Drive in the slow lane, as much as it kills you to do it. Stand in the long line at the grocery story. Chew your foot at least ten times before you swallow. Think of other ways to slow down. Then I encourage you to celebrate. God did this. Here is the pattern: God acted, he stepped back, and he celebrated what he had created and what he had done.
See, here’s the thing my friends. If you don’t choose the sabbath, the sabbath will choose you, and the results will be illness, burnout, and relational stress and brokenness.
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