Sunday, November 14, 2010

Join us for the next chapters of Sabbath.

There's some great stuff in here and I can't wait to discuss it with you all. Please feel free to comment! We love when you do :)



Time and Happiness from angie smith on Vimeo.

16 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness ~ the sunbeams shining down on Jessica were definitely God sent!! You girls are blessed!

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  2. Seriously, Jess why did you move that camera??? I know it was blocking some of your face but there was something heavenly about that beam being present while you spoke about the Sabbath..Just saying...Not sure if anyone else will feel the same way. I have just loved this book. There are so many chapters that have resignated with me.

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  3. Thank you for this - I went right to the empty promises video on crosspoint's website, which is fantastic. Loving the book.

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  4. The Time section of the book was really convicting for me. Being a finance major in college, and then reading these details about how the GDP came into being the standard for the world; everything that we do just stopped making sense (if that makes any sense--I hope it does). Everything seems so backward now. I have noticed--even when getting into political discussions with my dad--that essentially what we want to do is to pay the government to take over our charities, when we used to take the time and effort to do much of that ourselves. Reading about how the acts of kindness have no "value" today since they don't make money...it just put all of that into place for me. We have had a paradigm shift in the past century, and I don't think it is a good one.

    The other sections spoke to me in different ways as well, I just had that insight about the Time section I thought I would share.

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  5. thank you so very much for turning me on to this book!

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  6. Thank you, ladies, for you and for this book club! This book's message is so real and important, and you two are so inspiring to me in my walk of faith. Thank you!!!

    I have been loving this book, and I too loved these chapters. They resonated so much in my life, and listening to your thoughts were so encouraging!

    May God bless you both for the inspiration you bring and the work you do in His name! God bless! :0)

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  7. I have a lot of notes on these sections but the biggest thing I got out of it, which I already sort of understood, was regarding the whole aspect of the GDP and being a stay-at-home parent. People who work, not all but it's a trend I've noticed, tend to tell parents who stay-at-home that they don't have a job because they aren't making money. In reality, it's just as much as "job" because of the sheer amount of time that's put into it. No, there is no monetary gain but can't payment be received in other ways? I mean people trade yard work for dinner and still consider what they did "work" or a "job". Just because you don't see the results immediately, doesn't mean that taking care of the house isn't just as worthy a job as being a contractor or something.

    Another thing is marriage. It takes time to cultivate a good marriage, they don't "just happen". I know that when my husband spends his nights working (yay night shift) and then spends his days, in summer, doing side jobs so that we have money, it wears on our relationship because we don't have the time to connect. He's much better at it now but I have to remind him, we don't have to have money to DO things. There are lots of things we can do at home that don't cost money. Including but not limited to date night, because my parents live in town we can leave the kids with them and make our own dinner or something. People don't realize how much they don't actually need to spend in order to have fun.

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  8. I don't even have the book but I've been greatly inspired by your videos. Thank you, Ladies :)
    Also watched you on Huntley Street, Angie. It was precious. I live just minutes up the street from Crossroads...was there today for a homeschool meeting! Thanks for sharing your heart.
    Love, Heather

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  9. I've really enjoyed this whole book, and the chapter on happines really resonated within me. I long to just stop and take time to enjoy my family and home, instead of constantly working and worrying about it not being good enough, not having the nice things, etc...and instead focus on God and my family.

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  10. Loving this book and so grateful for the free copy you sent me. God is so funny to me, at this time in my life within the past 5 years I have faced numerable issues, the kind of stuff that I was sure would never happen to me. I am still in a place that surely feels like the wilderness at times, yet this is the place that God has called me to "Come and Rest" to dream and trust, to work and to let go. Ironic that these are not the solutions that the faithless would offer. To rest when your world is falling apart and uncertainty is your closest companion. God calls us to abide, to walk. Jesus wants us to be happy, what a simple, yet profound truth. Why do I forget that it is okay to want that? As if Holiness had only one way and that way was through the door of suffering. When we suffer enough we search for the way out- consumerism seeks to find us, we have to resist it's shallow promises. If we rest, we can resist. The problem tends to be me, I love to be busy, to spin out in a donut of activity to press on and pursue and race to the finish. It has taken and continues to take a lot to slow me down, I am learning the virtue of stillness. Thank you for your help and encouragement along the way-Love you

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  11. Stopping and resting is so important. I am trying to change some things in my schedule to have this mind set and to really put aside a day (a large chunk) for Sabbath rest. HOWEVER, my heart is aching because I feel like we are leaving Christ out. HE wants fellowship with us in our rest and I am feeling that HE is being left out in our reading(as on page 145). I have a hard time with page 123 Jesus wants us to be happy(?), HE WANTS OUR JOY and HAPPINESS TO BE HIM.
    I think Jess and Angie are pointing out really good things. Jess, read the bottom of page 116 --- talking about our society and how time and money are essential commodities . . . but during Sabbath we can honor precious things such as . . .(I thought that was a good point about our society and how we can give credit to important things in our Sabbath).
    The next sentence that Jess did not read is where I become sad again, "When WE plant OUR seeds in the ground - when WE invest OUR financial capital in service of those priceless human gifts- the bountiful harvest that erupts can take OUR breath away. (the capitalization is mine for emphasis)
    Let us not forget where our human gifts come from, and let us not forget the fruits of the spirit that can be seen, CHRIST'S WORK THROUGH US. Is Christ in your thoughts? Maybe it is being assumed and I am being overly sensitive but I just don't want us to leave Christ out of our Sabbath.

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  12. I am really enjoying the discussion, and was one of the lucky ones to be blessed enough for a free copy, but have not yet received it. Do you know if they sent them all out yet? I am definitely enjoying the videos so far, though! Thanks again for this awesome book club!! Love it!

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  13. liesl!!!!! will you send your address to me at angelac519 at gmail dot com? im so sorry about that and quite sure it's my fault :) i have a copy ready to go when i get that!!! please accept my apologies!!!

    and to all of you who left comments here, just know that they really ministered to me and i realized i learn just as much from my fellow sisters as i do whatever we are reading!

    grateful for each of you in the season of gratitude :)

    blessings!
    ang

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  14. You girls are great, and I am thankful that I was blessed by a donated book to participate in this!
    I know there is a ton of controversy out there about working moms and stay-at-home moms... and I hope this doesn't stir up anything... but I wanted to share MY experience. In the chapter about the workers getting shorter hours the thing that struck me was that they were more productive. I am a teacher and a mom to one little miracle daughter. When my daughter came into the world, I knew I wanted to spend more time with her, so I was blessed to be able to job-share and work part time as a classroom teacher still. I have noticed that my productivity has increased! I LOVE my teaching days, more than I did when I was full time. And I LOVE my home days. I have been able to see that when I have less time at work, I am happy to do the little extra that it takes to share a classroom and work part time. I don't know if I will be able to continue to have this schedule forever, but for ME, for now, it is such a way to experience a thankfulness for my work and my home time.

    Another chapter that hit me was the Gospel of Consumption. I can look around my house and see TONS of things that I have and never use... or rarely think of even. I spend my hard-earned money on items that I think will be useful or helpful or fun... and those things just sit there. Another statistic that is appalling is that in the 1950's there were NO storage units... now it is a 20 BILLION dollar-a-year industry! How much stuff we have, thinking we need it, and it ends up in storage! Which wasn't even an option half a century ago! And, what scares me about that, is the environmental implications of that... when we are "done" with our stuff, where will it go? How are we caring for God's amazing creation when we are literally filling the land with our junk. I am speaking to myself here... but thought others might see this as well!

    Thanks again ladies!
    Michelle

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  15. I'm doing this study late, but am LOVING it. Trying to finish up for the next one. You girls are such a blessing and I just love bringing you in to my homes :)!

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  16. I like this book so much, and also likes its all chapters. They resonated so much in my life, and its all thoughts were so encouraging.
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