99 Sabbath Rest with Sandy Feit

99. Sabbath Rest with Sandy Feit

 

**Transcription Below**

 

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” -Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)

 

Sandy Feit was born in 1950 and raised in a Conservative Jewish family. She unexpectedly met her Messiah in 1980 and has been on a grand spiritual adventure ever since. By day, Sandy works as Senior Copy Editor and staff writer for In Touch Ministries, and every Friday night, she can be found at her favorite place on earth—family dinner with her three children and eight grandkids. 

 

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Sandy Feit’s Writing Collection  

The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith

 

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Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)

 

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

 

Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

 

Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” 

 

Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” 

 

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

 

Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” 

 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 

Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

 

Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

 

Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”

 

Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

 

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“

 

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“

 

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

 

**Transcription**

 

[00:00:01] <music>

 

Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.

 

[00:00:17] <music>

 

Laura Dugger: In the midst of a health care crisis, you don't have to feel isolated and alone. Samaritan Ministries connects Christians who support each other through prayer, encouragement, and financial support for medical needs. Learn more at SamaritanMinistries.org.

 

Thank you to Chick-fil-A East Peoria, one of our sponsors, for today's episode. You can place a mobile order for their drive-thru or for curbside pickup. Learn more at cfaeastpeoria.com. 

 

Sandy Feit and I originally met each other through her daughter, Jackie Coleman. I consider Jackie one of my dearest friends and I hope you had a chance to listen to her episode on friendship back in October of 2018.

 

And now we get to sit under Sandy's teaching on Sabbath. We will cover the history of this gift and unpack how to incorporate this rhythm of rest into our lives today, if we so choose. [00:01:23] 

 

Here's our chat. 

 

Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Sandy. 

 

Sandy Feit: Thanks, it's nice to be here.

 

Laura Dugger: Would you just start us off by sharing your story with us? 

 

Sandy Feit: Sure. I was brought up in Providence, Rhode Island in the 1950s, and we had a sizable Jewish community, which was pretty insulated. And this all felt normal to me, but now looking back, I think it's likely that it was related to how recent the Holocaust was. So it made sense that there was this self-protective reaction against assimilation. 

 

But what that meant for me was I grew up with an attitude of us versus them, where "us" was anyone Jewish, and "them" was everybody else. It didn't matter whether they were friends of Israel, lovers of Jews, or anti-Semitic. They were all "them". 

 

So the way that played out in my life was I had almost exclusively Jewish friends. I dated only Jewish boys, and I was almost never in a Gentile home. [00:02:26] As for religion, ours was a conservative Jewish home, and that meant that I was brought up kosher. I never tasted a cheeseburger or lobster until after I was married.

 

As for holidays and Sabbath, we had a lot of rules. Now, the rules varied from household to household. So if someone was orthodox, that meant that they probably wouldn't do any cooking from Friday evening to Saturday evening. They wouldn't do any driving. They wouldn't use electricity except on timers, so things would go on automatically. But the conservative, which we were, was more relaxed. 

 

So, mainly what I remember was that when Sabbath rolled around, we couldn't use pencils or crayons or scissors or sewing machine. And I was a kid who grew up to be an art major. So as you can imagine, that wasn't really pleasant for me. 

 

I wasn't a child who enjoyed reading, which is ironic because I grew up to become an editor. But I just felt that these rules were very restrictive and frustrating for me. [00:03:30] So starting on Sunset Friday, I just couldn't wait for Sundown Saturday. 

 

In general, though, I felt good about being Jewish. I was proud to be one of the chosen people, but I had no idea what we were chosen for. God Himself didn't seem very integral to our experience of Judaism. It struck me more as a lifestyle of rules, and mostly man-made rules at that. So when I left for college, I didn't see a reason to remain observant. I was a good person, and to me that just felt like enough. 

 

What did I have instead of religion? I think of it more as a paradigm. My hypothesis of how life worked was that I was lucky. Things went my way. In school, I did very well academically. I married a Jewish doctor. I had a nice job. I had one child who was, by the way, born right on her due date. And we had four grandparents all living within a mile of us. And child number two was on the way. [00:04:30] So everything was going according to plan. The only problem was that it was my plan.

 

And then my water broke unexpectedly 12 weeks early, and Jonathan, our second child, was born weighing a frightening three pounds. The head of the NICU said, "Don't worry, 28-weekers are hard to manage, but we're good at it." And I figured, "Hey, I'm lucky." So this might be a little rigorous, but I just assumed everything would work out fine.

 

Well, we kind of bumbled along for four weeks, and then all of a sudden, Jonathan got an overwhelming infection. He was rushed to surgery on a Friday and died two days later. By the way, he died on April 1st. So that was a really hard time for me. So my paradigm of things go my way had collapsed.

 

And that fall, as if I needed further evidence that I wasn't in charge of my life, a subsequent pregnancy proved abnormal. [00:05:31] It was something called a molar pregnancy, where the placenta can turn cancerous and the baby gets blighted. At any rate, I ended up on chemotherapy and weekly blood tests for months.

 

Elliot, my husband, knew I needed help and he approached a new hospital social worker. He was a pediatrician in the hospital and he knew this social worker that people considered wise and asked if she would just come and talk to me. 

 

Well, Ellen was a really good listener, and she wasn't afraid to take on my questions, and she wasn't afraid of the pain I was in. And I found it very comforting to be with her. So I would ask her questions like, how can you stand working in that unit where children die? And she would answer, "Well, I have a strong faith." And I didn't even see the connection. What did faith have to do with that? 

 

So I remember asking her, what religion are you? And she said, Christian. I didn't really understand that word if I had heard others. [00:06:31] Jewish mind doesn't really have a good category for all the different types of Christians. So I said, well, are you Catholic or Gentile or Baptist? And she said, "Just just Christian. But it's not a religion, it's a relationship." Again, I didn't really have any understanding of what that meant.

 

Eventually, I asked her something that I don't even recall, but I remember her answer as clear as anything, because her answer was that the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ. Well, I didn't know what to do with that. It was offensive to me. I was Jewish. She knew I was Jewish. I thought, how can she say that? She knows what I've been through. 

 

I knew at this point I'm supposed to throw her out of my house, but she had been my life preserver. That was the only thing that gave me any comfort, and I knew I couldn't do that either. 

 

So I just answered her by saying, "Well, I believe my Judaism is true." And she amazed me by agreeing. But she added that if Judaism is true, then Christianity must also be, because there are so many Old Testament prophecies that aren't fulfilled until the New Testament. [00:07:36] 

 

Well, that certainly confused me because I always thought that the Old Testament was my Bible, was for Jews, and the New Testament was for Gentiles. I had no idea that they had anything to do with each other. So she asked me if I had a Bible, and I found the one I had been given at my bat mitzvah. So she took me on a six-month research project through the prophecies in my own Bible, and a portrait of my own Messiah began to take shape. 

 

And this is what my Bible said about Him. He would be born of a virgin. He would be born in Bethlehem. His hands and feet would be pierced. And said he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.

 

Well, this was sounding an awful lot like a "them" because I grew up down the street from a Catholic school and every Easter there was a poster out front that showed Jesus on the cross and it said, "He died for your sins." [00:08:37] I had no idea what that meant, but now reading in Isaiah 53 that He was crushed for our iniquities and He was cut off for my people, it kind of went, click, and all of a sudden I realized that that is who these prophecies in my Bible were about. So that is how I came to believe in Jesus. 

 

That night at the kitchen table, I thought that I had finally reached the finish line, not realizing that it was actually the starting line, and I've been on a little journey ever since.

 

Laura Dugger: That is so captivating to hear your story. I've never heard all of those details about Jonathan, and I'm sure that recent anniversary was still tough. 

 

Sandy Feit: Well, actually, it used to be very hard. I taught in a Christian school, I was an art teacher there, and every April 1st, the kids would think it was great fun to play April Fools jokes on all the teachers. So whenever they did to me, I would just kind of snap, you know, that's not funny. [00:09:39] 

 

One day, my son also played an April Fool's joke, and I did the same thing to him, and he said, "But Mom, April 1st is the day that Jonathan met Jesus." And it just turned everything around for me. So now I actually appreciate the day. And I realized that my entire family was on a different trajectory because of that day and what happened on it. So now if I had to rewrite the story of my life, I would not leave that part out.

 

Laura Dugger: Your maturity is so incredible to hear. I'm just curious with a few follow-up questions. So at this point, when you came to know Jesus, you were still in Rhode Island at this point, is that right? 

 

Sandy Feit: That's right. 

 

Laura Dugger: How did you explain this then to your family, or did you keep that to yourself?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, it took me two years to tell my mother. It was really very hard to do, but eventually it just kind of bubbled out. [00:10:39] I had been having dreams about it and it had been coming between us without her knowing that I would feel this big distance. 

 

So finally, I just told her and she had a strange reaction. At first, she said, "Well, you sound so happy. Why don't you tell your sister?" Because my sister at the time was having some struggles. So I sort of couldn't believe my ears. And I quick called my sister and told her. And she has always been very open to me.

 

But the next day, my mother kind of thought about it and said, "You know, I was thinking about what you said and what does that mean in terms of our family and all the relatives and her grandparents?" And then she started distancing herself from it. She came to have a really hard time with it. But we managed to get past it in our relationship and had a good relationship. But I wasn't really allowed to talk about that part of my life, which, as you can imagine, when it's in every fiber of your being, that's very tricky to do. But we navigated it okay. 

 

She died a few years ago, and I never quite got the answer from her that I had hoped, but God didn't leave me without hope either. [00:11:46] There were certain things that happened at the end that make me think, Maybe she was coming around in her own way. And that's what I cling to. 

 

Laura Dugger: I love how He gives us that personal hope. 

 

Sandy Feit: Mm-hmm. 

 

Laura Dugger: Then what about with Elliot and your children? When did you share about Jesus with them?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, Elliot, that was very interesting because he brought the social worker, Ellen, to our house, so he knew her very well from work. And the way he put it was he was always in the background washing dishes and listening. I'm not sure he washed dishes. But he was listening. It seemed like the focus was on me with a lot of things going wrong or being hard in my life. And then I came to faith and was starting to climb out of that hole and getting into the study of Scripture, and he saw me coming alive.

 

The focus seemed to change to him, where several things were being very hard with his career and other situations. [00:12:47] And so within around six months, he also came to faith. God is very smart. He knew that if Elliot came first, that I would have had a hard time with that, because Elliot, we went to high school together. And if there was ever a day that he wasn't sitting outside the vice principal's office for being thrown out of class, it meant he was absent. So I would have thought, "Oh no, he's doing something else that is a kind of a bad boy thing or not what's expected of him. So God brought me first. So wise. 

 

And then when Elliot came around, God knew that I was going to need a partner to walk through this with. For a while, I was way ahead of him in the studies, but he just took off and he was just like dynamite with it. He loved Jesus so much and just wanted to tell everybody about Him. 

 

Laura Dugger: Yes, he is such a special man. I only had the opportunity to meet him a few times, but both of you just exude the light and love of Christ, really, in every interaction. [00:13:48] 

 

Sandy Feit: Oh, that's good to hear. I hope so.

 

Laura Dugger: And you have such a unique perspective into Judaism and Christianity. I would love for you just to teach us more, and especially as it relates to Sabbath. So how do Jews honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy? 

 

Sandy Feit: Well, the question assumes that they do honor the Sabbath and keep it holy, but that depends on a lot of things. As I said, most Jewish people that I knew had their own style of rule-keeping, whether it was for the Sabbath or kosher laws or how they observed holidays.

 

But their branch of Judaism also mattered. So if they were Orthodox, they would be stricter and conservative, a little more relaxed. A lot of the people that I knew were in the Reform Synagogue, which was basically indistinguishable from the culture at large. They would eat cheeseburgers and they would work on Saturday and all that. 

 

So for those who do observe Sabbath in the stricter denominations, one thing they might do is cook Saturday's meals ahead of time. [00:14:51] Generally, the house is cleaned to be ready for Friday evening. And Sabbath for them would create a rhythm to organize the week around.

 

Another thing that makes a big difference is where you live. I have a cousin in California who lives in an Orthodox compound, so the whole community is observing Sabbath, which makes it much more doable. Also in Israel. My daughter and I had an opportunity to go to Israel for the first time, me for the first time, her a second. We were there this past October. 

 

The last evening we were there, I got to spend Shabbat with a first cousin of mine who grew up with me in Rhode Island and has lived in Israel for many years. And it was such a lovely experience. The meal preparations were extensive. We spent the entire afternoon making lots and lots of dishes.

 

And at night there were 11 of us around the table. Her whole extended family was there and we ate and we laughed and we joked and we sang. It was just an amazing ambiance and camaraderie around that table. [00:15:56] You and I would call it fellowship.

 

But the amazing thing was this was going on in every house throughout the neighborhood. In Israel, traffic stops on Shabbat. Hotel elevators are programmed to stop at every floor so no one has to do the work of pushing buttons. So there's this mindset and a rhythm and a delightful rest that descends on the day.

 

It's kind of like everyone here doing Thanksgiving or picnics and swimming on 4th of July. It would feel different if you went to another country and were the only ones doing that. But when the whole country is doing it, it's just very, very lovely. And there's this communal sense of pleasure.

 

Laura Dugger: Wow, that's a beautiful picture. Then I'm even going to the practical side for these young moms who are helping prepare all of this and they have little kids at their feet. I mean, at one point you were that little child not able to play with the crayons. So what did that look like for the preparations and even the day of Sabbath? [00:16:59] 

 

Sandy Feit: Well, my mother would have a nice meal for Friday night, and that part was kind of fun, but then we would kind of disband and do our own thing. So for me, it was just kind of waiting it out until I could get back to my drawing and cutting and all that.

 

Sometimes we would take a walk on the Sabbath, but our family wasn't observing it in a very big way. Not the same as if it's in a neighborhood in Israel where everybody is doing it and it just feels very different. 

 

Laura Dugger: Okay, that makes sense because I think I have this more romanticized view in my head which maybe it does sound a little bit like your experience in Israel. And when you likened it to Thanksgiving, are you saying it's like that big of a production and that big of a celebration, but it's every week? 

 

Sandy Feit: It really was. I cannot tell you how many different dishes were on the table that night and all the effort that went into it. And the whole feeling of preparation was very much like a Thanksgiving morning. [00:18:01] 

 

Laura Dugger: Well, and like you said, they ordered the rest of their lives around that if that's a high priority. But now for us as Christ followers living after the first coming of Christ, what kind of meaning does or should the Sabbath have?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, the commandment about Sabbath was actually part of the Mosaic Covenant, which Christ fulfilled when He died on the cross. So we are now under the new covenant. Many Christians think the Sabbath actually changed from the seventh day of the week, from Saturday to Sunday, the Lord's Day. But biblically, that's actually not the case. We're no longer under the Mosaic law.

 

So we are under the law of Christ, and that reiterated most of the Ten Commandments. You know, in the New Testament, you'll see many of those things repeated in one form or another, but the observance of Sabbath is not actually listed. So we are free to observe it, but we're not under obligation to. [00:19:01] 

 

I think rest is a beautiful principle to build into our life, and Christ is our Sabbath, so that's where we find our rest. Sabbath was originally instituted as a day to rest from work, and we know it was used as a day of worship in Christ's day. It says He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and He interacted. In fact, He healed very pointedly. He healed to draw attention to who He was and what He was doing, but He brought out the fact that the Sabbath was made for man, not the other way around.

 

So, in the New Testament, the Lord's Day became a day to gather, but the principle that we go by is that we are to meet regularly, but the actual day of the week is not specified. Actually, the aspect of freedom in Christianity is especially important to me. So those Sabbath rules that I mentioned earlier felt like a clear lack of freedom, and to me that kind of contradicts the spirit of Sabbath. But now I feel like I can incorporate the rest part in a way that's not obligation, but it's just... it's beautiful to actually get to that point of rest in Christ. [00:20:07] 

 

Laura Dugger: And from your study of the Bible, let me just summarize your saying that of those Ten Commandments, that some of them were affirmed in the New Testament. This one was not specifically stated by Jesus, but that the New Testament does talk about the Sabbath being for man, more so like a gift rather than man-made for the Sabbath. Is that right? 

 

Sandy Feit: Well, that's right. But Jesus was also saying it while the Mosaic Covenant was still in effect. His whole life up to the cross they were under the Mosaic Covenant. So we have the freedom to observe those principles if we want, and I think it's a great idea, but not if we do it out of guilt or because we think we have to. We do it because it's a gift to us. 

 

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Laura Dugger: When you speak about rest, it's so full of freedom and very inviting. [00:23:18] And I'm just curious, why do you think that we in American culture tend to celebrate the opposite of what Sabbath represents?

 

Sandy Feit: That's a really good question. And I think you're right, we do. But I think it's part of the American ethic. It's a mindset that we have. I think it goes back to the idea of the American dream and the self-made man. Some people trace that idea back to Benjamin Franklin. He came from humble beginnings and rose to be a very respected member of society. And also people like Abraham Lincoln, you know, the poverty and then this rise to power. So I think that's just kind of built into what Americans think and aspire to, you know, drive and grit and pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. 

 

But maybe there's also some competitive spirit that we have. And maybe it's also a little bit of the human nature being insatiable. We just have this drive for bigger and better and more. [00:24:20] 

 

I think Madison Avenue probably has shaped some of that desire. American Advertising seems to understand the consumer's psyche and they're very clever about manipulating us to desire whatever they want to sell us. 

 

So I think that all plays a part and we always try to outdo whatever's been done before. Think about all the events and expectations that get bigger every year. Sales figures, no one's ever satisfied to have a year as good as last year. It always has to be better. 

 

Super Bowl halftime shows always have to be bigger and more dramatic. And look at how holidays have become just bigger and more booming industries. Things like Valentine's Day and Halloween were never as big as they are now. And now Halloween rivals Christmas, I believe. Same thing with... think about marriage proposals and baby reveals. It's just bigger and bigger. And I think that's just somehow wired into the American thinking. 

 

Laura Dugger: That's a very fascinating perspective. [00:25:19] What root issues do you believe this illuminates when we do resist the desire to enjoy the gift of Sabbath rest?

 

Sandy Feit: I like that you call it the gift of Sabbath rest, because it is no longer a command. But as for heart issues that make it difficult to get the rest we need, I think I would include sleep and bodily rejuvenation in that character. 

 

Thinking of things from my own experience, I have trouble with discipline, going to bed on time, and also self-sufficiency. We've all been taught that we can do it ourselves, coupled with the pride of accomplishment.

 

I myself have trouble leaving things undone for too long. I've always been driven by a to-do list. I always joke that my motto is, let me just, as in, okay, I'll be right there, but let me just do this one thing first. I always want to cross it off. So I have to fight that if I want to get to a place of just resting and sitting. [00:26:20] 

 

In fact, as recently as 8 or 10 years ago, I didn't know how to relax let alone rest for a whole day. TV seems like an odd thing to praise, but I do credit it with teaching me how to sit back for at least a little while. Because before that, the only time I would ever sit and watch TV was when I had a basket of clothes to fold.

 

But my husband enjoyed unwinding with a program or two. Once he found a series that intrigued me and I guess I had enough laundry to get into it, so eventually I did learn to enjoy just sitting with him and watching even if it wasn't laundry to fold. 

 

So I'm not sure how we get past that. One thing might be an accountability partner. For Christian marriages, it would be great if the leader of the family, also known as the husband, gets on board. If he would build rest and downtime into the family routine, that would be very helpful for the whole family. 

 

Also, stick to bedtimes. When kids get to stay up too late, that's a drain on the parents, and parents need time not being needed. [00:27:24] I wasn't disappointed about my own bedtime, as I said, but I'm doing better now. When I do, I really notice a difference from the next afternoon. 

 

Laura Dugger: I think you'll be hitting a nerve for a lot of people, and I'm including myself in that category with being kind of enslaved to this to-do list that, like you said, let me just get one more thing done. Do you have any other tips for how to, I don't know if the right word is overcome, but any tips for how to overcome that pull to always be driven to do one more thing rather than to choose rest?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, one is maybe just to force yourself to try it. And if you can get to a point of rest, you might find that you really like it. But ironically, this COVID-19 situation that we are in is forcing a lot of us to be a whole kind of inadvertent students of Sabbath and that lifestyle because we're a lot less active than we're used to being. [00:28:26] 

 

And with a lot of stores and places of entertainment and churches closed, we are having to relearn how to stay home and follow a routine that in many cases is more restful, although those of you with children at home, it's not necessarily restful, but it's a different pace than you're used to. 

 

So it's not always easy or comfortable to do, but there's a wholesomeness to that quieter kind of entertainment. The other thing that I would say about Sabbath and about this time of lockdown is that it's a time of reset.

 

There's a lot going on, not just in our personal life, but as a country and as a world that's being reset. These patterns of work, the activities by which we play and get refreshed, our ways of interacting with housemates. I'm hearing my children talk about the things that they're figuring out to do with their children and the pleasure that they're learning to get from it that may not have been so pleasurable before. [00:29:27] 

 

Also, the ways that we're connecting with more remote friends and families. I'm on Zoom meetings at work. I'm on Zoom at Sunday school. It's making us look at life differently. Even Congress is not fighting each other, but they're trying to work together for a change. So this is pretty remarkable. But the Sabbath and these downtimes can be a reset for attitudes.

 

Laura Dugger: And it's fine for us to detour here since we are all experiencing this together. So for you personally, Sandy, is there anything that you've learned so far in this unique season of COVID-19? Are there any of these rhythms that you want to take forward once we come out of this?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, yes, I always enjoy being with my family. And since my husband died four and a half years ago, my son instituted family dinner. So once a week. It actually has moved to Friday night. So that has been a delightful point in the week that we kind of revolve around. I've loved that connection. [00:30:33] 

 

Now with this new situation I'm actually doing bedtimes by Zoom every weeknight. And I just love even if it's a short time but hearing something from the children's day and they all get to talk. We play High, Low, Buffalo. What's the high of your day, the low of your day and something unusual about your day.

 

And what delights me is that almost all of them will say, I had no love. And I just love getting into their little heads and just seeing the world, this crazy world with this crazy situation through the eyes of a child. And it does settle me to do that. So I don't want to lose that after this is all over and we're looking back on it.

 

Laura Dugger: Wow, thank you for sharing that. I love it. 

 

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How can we apply principles in scripture to live in a rhythm of incorporating more intentional rest into our daily lives?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, the biblical principles that I see are that God rested after six days of creation, and then I see Jesus pulling away from the crowds very regularly to be in a secluded place with His Father. He also told the disciples, come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while because there were a lot of people coming and going and wanting Him. [00:32:31]  

 

So emulating Christ is certainly a good thing. But how do we do it? That is always tricky. But I think the first thing is to be mindful of the messages playing in my head and then not fall for them. Like what goes on in my head is, oh, I don't really need to get to bed this early 30 minutes won't make a difference even though I know it's going to be 45 or 60 minutes by the time all is said and done and then I'll be wound up and won't fall asleep right away.

 

Or you know that bedtime app on the phone, it plays barf Brahms lullaby and then I'm supposed to go to bed or get restart to get ready for it, well, I have learned to ignore it. So I almost have to make an out loud decision to pay attention to it. 

 

A lot of it has to do with being organized and planning ahead, whether that means cooking double and freezing it, planning for leftovers. I once read that undesignated time disappears. So for me, the takeaway is be intentional and block off time, including for rest and replenishment, whatever that looks like. [00:33:35] 

 

One other thing that my son does, he has Sunday after church is a technology day. They don't allow their children to use the computer or their tablets a lot, but they have discovered that that works well for the whole family. So it's kind of like the TV thing, that technology can be an unwelcome intruder in many relationships and certainly in many circles, but it's not evil in and of itself, just if it's misused. 

 

So if the children are allowed to have that time, then it ends up that my son and his wife also have a very peaceful afternoon and they can connect with each other. So that's something that has worked very well for them. 

 

Laura Dugger: Wow, that's a really practical tip. I like that. What caution do you have for us if we want to get serious about building rest into our routine? Is there a way to recognize if we're falling into either extreme there?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, speaking for myself, I don't think I have the danger of falling into too much. [00:34:37] You mean becoming a super couch potato? I think more my temptation is to fall out of it. So I just would have to keep reminding myself. 

 

Other things you can do are also like schedule when we're allowed to be with people again, a pedicure or lunch with a friend monthly, or something like... some people have a regular week for vacation every year. But the organization and planning ahead, I think, is really important. 

 

And as I said before, an accountability partner to kind of hold you to it. I don't think it's our normal rhythm. Maybe that's why it had to be a command in the first place.

 

Laura Dugger: That's really insightful. I think you're onto something there. Would you vision cast for us now? What kind of hope is there for us if we actually become intentional and incorporate this gift of rest into our lives?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, I think we've become more Christ-like. And isn't that what we're all aiming for? [00:35:37] Jesus was never rushed. He was never flustered. Didn't matter how often the Pharisees or the teachers of the law tried to trap Him. He just was never rattled. 

 

So I think if we look at how He did that, and that's our goal and our model, I think that's a great thing to aim for. He stayed in very close contact with His Father and did only what His Father told Him to do. 

 

Prayer. I know that's a pattern that is wonderful to stay in. But prayer is a battle. It's hard to keep that prayer time, something is always trying to interrupt it. So I think that is something to aim for. 

 

And we have the Holy Spirit living within us. So we have access to the power that raised Jesus from the dead, it said in the scripture. That's amazing. And we have the wisdom of Almighty God and the peace that characterized the Prince of Peace. 

 

So, you know, I'm preaching to myself here, but if we just stop trying to take control of things ourselves and instead let God run the show, I think we'd really find that rest. [00:36:43] 

 

I once had this little bookmark that I made that said R-U-N in giant letters, and in a little tiny i, a small i, it was in between the U and the N. So the idea of it was run my life God or I will ruin it. 

 

And I think that's what this rest is like for me. Left to my own devices I would be filling my time with all kinds of stuff and to-do lists and marking it off. But if the more I let God, people say let go and let God, but the more I let Him do, the better off I am. 

 

Actually, since losing my husband, I've had to take care of all kinds of things that I simply didn't know how to do before. Prepare taxes, I had to get the microwave fixed, hire a contractor, I have a new garage door, I had to figure out probate, buy a new car. So my initial temptation four and a half years ago was to panic.

 

There was just so much thrown at me all at once, though, that I had no choice but to cast it on God. [00:37:47] And you know what? He wasn't thrown at all. Gradually, one thing at a time got worked out. And the more I saw Him come through, the more I began to rest in Him. And it's really changing me. I'll tell you, calm feels good. I can just tell you that He is faithful and He will come through.

 

Laura Dugger: And that's especially powerful to hear because you've gone through so much loss in your life. Many years ago with Jonathan and then with your mother and with your beloved husband more recently. So I don't take those words lightly.

 

Sandy Feit: Well, thank you. But I will say I am a firm believer in reunions and we are going to have a grand one one day.

 

Laura Dugger: Amen. Sandy, if someone's listening and they want to boil this down to a more manageable first step, is there anything that you would direct them toward? 

 

Sandy Feit: Maybe folding their clothes in front of the TV. [00:38:47] Maybe just sitting and starting with 30 seconds of silence and thinking of nothing except possibly thinking to God. And then just gradually extending it, but really get it on your calendar. If you don't write it down, it's not going to happen. Not if you're like me. 

 

Laura Dugger: I think those are really wise principles to start. And it's interesting. My husband, Mark, has been reading and actually now rereading this book, The Good and Beautiful God. And it really ties into a lot of these recommendations you've been giving where it first incorporates rest and then silence and there's more spiritual disciplines. But I'll put a link to that in the show notes in case that's helpful for someone to get started as well. 

 

Sandy Feit: Oh, I think I'll look it up. Thank you. 

 

Laura Dugger: Yes, my pleasure. Sandy, you're definitely a gifted communicator and I know you're a great writer as well. Where can we find more of your work online? [00:39:47] 

 

Sandy Feit: Well, I am a staff writer for Intouch.org, so I guess you could Google Intouch.org and my last name, F-E-I-T. I also have an article on a site called theperennialgen.com, so that and my name would bring that up. That's for older people like me, but you can find it there. 

 

Laura Dugger: Wonderful. We'll link to that in our show notes and on our "Resources" tab of our website. You may know we're called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge or discernment. And so as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?

 

Sandy Feit: Well, I have a little story for you and that is that Elliot, my husband, was not much of a note-taker at church when the sermon was going on. But there was this one Sunday that all of a sudden he got this aha look on his face and he pulled a pen out and he started writing furiously. I had no idea what he was doing. [00:40:48] 

 

But when he got home, he told me that something he had heard on the radio earlier that week, I think it was another Christian message, and what the pastor was saying in church, just blended together. And he got from those two messages four statements that he thought of that summed up the life of faith. So I'm going to share those. 

 

He wrote them on a little card that I still have on my fridge. And we had it printed up as a magnet that we gave out at his funeral. And I am still hearing from people that they have it, they look at it all the time, and it really meant a lot. So I will share those. 

 

1. Bible verse "be anxious for nothing". Eliot used to be a terrible worrier. And the stronger his faith grew, the more the anxiety went away. And he learned that there really is no reason to be anxious. 

 

2. Take no moment for granted. He said, you just never know what God has in mind for the most simple or innocent-looking moment. [00:41:50] It might be a time that He has a great spiritual thing about to happen. In fact, Elliot once led a telemarketer to faith. So he really knew what he was talking about. 

 

3. Trust God. That speaks for itself. 

 

4. Expect a miracle. 

 

Laura Dugger: I love those words. That's an incredible savvy sauce. Sandy, just like your daughter Jackie, you are delightful to spend time with and learn from. So thank you for enlightening us today. 

 

Sandy Feit: Thank you. I've really enjoyed this and I've always enjoyed you and I'm glad to be in touch again. 

 

Laura Dugger: Oh, well, it's been a privilege to have you as my guest. Thank you. 

 

Sandy Feit: Thank you so much.

 

Laura Dugger: One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. [00:42:52] Therefore, we're separated from Him.

 

This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.

 

This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. 

 

We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. [00:43:57] 

 

So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen. 

 

If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him. 

 

At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you're ready to get started?

 

First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John. [00:44:56] 

 

Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. 

 

We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process. 

 

Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today. 

 

If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.