The overstuffed suitcase was getting heavier every step I took up the steep concrete staircase. I couldn’t tell if it was the scalding August weather or my massive jet lag causing me to see double, but I started to question if I actually was returning from this trip with two suitcases rather than only the one I left with.

Remembering that upper body strength is not my forte, I finally abandoned the comically huge suitcase in the middle of the staircase and went in search of backup. Right away, I saw my friend Paul through his open apartment window. I didn’t know him well, but I remembered that he served as a worship leader at his church while studying to become a pastor. He seemed to be exactly the kind of person who would take a few minutes to help a tired, jetlagged traveler lug her large suitcase up a staircase.

“Hey, Paul! Great to see you!” I called through the window. He answered my greeting and asked about my trip abroad. “The trip was great!” I replied. Too exhausted for small talk, I got right to it, “Actually, I am trying to get my suitcase up those crazy-steep stairs. I have a habit of over-packing, and, well…I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me a hand?”

I could see him thinking about my request from his reclined position on his worn, brown couch. He hesitated before replying, “You know, I would love to, but I’m observing my Sabbath today, so…” he trailed off.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that statement, so I awkwardly mumbled, “Thanks anyway,” and moved on down the corridor. I reluctantly found another kind soul to help me lug my overweight suitcase to my apartment and made a vow to pack less in the future.

A few years later, I found myself in the early stages of my first full-time ministry job, frantically trying to navigate the world of youth ministry. During a particularly busy week, with too many days in a row without a day off, I reached out to Jack, a more experienced youth pastor friend. During coffee I asked him, “How do you balance doing quality youth ministry with making time for rest and time alone with God?”

Jack’s answer was simple, “I don’t.” He explained, “Ministry is my calling, and I love what I do; so, I don’t feel the need to take time to rest, except for the occasional morning off or the few vacation days I take a year. I actually think I would feel lazy if I took any more time to rest.”

This answer was not as helpful as I had hoped. I found myself wondering if Paul, my sofa-lounging friend, may have been on to something with his Sabbath idea, even if he had been taking it to an extreme at the time. Maybe what I was looking for was some sort of balance between my two friends’ philosophies. Could I find a middle ground between the “won’t get off the couch at any cost” approach and “My job is too important for me to rest” mentality?

As I started exploring the idea of Sabbath rest, I found the concept to be pretty simple. In Genesis 2:3, God models Sabbath rest by resting on the seventh day of creation. Later in the Old Testament, God’s people are commanded multiple times to take one day a week to rest and cease from work. Jesus Himself observed the Sabbath, taking regular times away from the crowds for rest and prayer. Jesus also reminded us in Mark 2:27 that the purpose of observing the Sabbath isn’t legalism, but that Sabbath rest is intended for our benefit. It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to see that Scripture is pretty clear on this issue. No matter how much I love my work, I still need to make time for Sabbath rest.

However, after a few months of trial and error, I felt frustrated and defeated. although I really tried to make time for a day of rest each week, I was wildly unsuccessful. I got better about not coming into the office on my days off, but I rarely used those days for actual rest.

Can I Actually Sabbath?
At first, I was a bit confounded about why I couldn’t get this Sabbath thing figured out. I pride myself on being able to manage my schedule well. I plan my youth calendar a year in advance, always have a running to-do list going, and keep a very detailed professional and family calendar to avoid double-booking important events. So, why couldn’t I make it work?

I now see there were a few obvious reasons my quest for Sabbath rest wasn’t successful. First, I still was trying to prove myself in this new ministry. There was always an important ministry task to be done, and my biggest fear was being viewed as the staff member who didn’t pull her own weight.

I also enjoyed the immediate payoff that comes from getting things done. I’m one of those weirdos who derives a strange amount of satisfaction from crossing items off of her to-do list. Being productive feels good. Resting can feel counter-intuitive. Even on my days off, I would look for ways I could be productive around the house or see if I could sneak in a quick ministry errand. I was afraid of how it would feel not to have any physical evidence to prove I had been productive that day.

Then one day, I hit a wall. I was about a year into ministry and had just returned from a very fruitful week at a high-energy summer camp. It was a Monday morning, and I was scheduled to be in the office that day. The only problem was that I couldn’t get out of bed. I called in sick. The next day, I got myself out of bed and into work, but I couldn’t focus. I was physically present, by mentally elsewhere. It took me two weeks to feel somewhat normal again. At that point, I started to understand what Jesus meant when He said the Sabbath was made for our benefit. I needed to get serious about Sabbath rest, or I wasn’t going to make it much longer in ministry.Later that same week, as I was attempting to piece together the multifaceted puzzle that is the yearly youth ministry calendar, I had my epiphany. I had become quite skilled in the art of managing and planning my youth calendar. I carefully scheduled every outreach event, volunteer training, mission trip and youth retreat with such precision that nothing was overlooked. Once those events were on the calendar, I was committed to making them happen. Anything that came up after those events had been scheduled would have to be planned around those important events. This system worked well for executing a year of effective youth ministry events and programs, yet I never had thought to be intentional about managing and protecting my days of Sabbath rest in that same way.

So right then, I started scheduling my days of Sabbath rest the same way I would schedule a big youth event on my master calendar. I did my best to treat that event on my calendar with as much respect as the other important events on my calendar, planning anything else that came up around those dates and protecting them as much as possible.

I followed through with only 50 percent of the dates I scheduled for Sabbath rest that first year. However, that was more than 100 percent of days of Sabbath rest than I had taken the year before. That’s progress. The following year, I had a little bit more success, following through with 75 percent of the dates on my calendar.

Learning as I Sabbathed
Through this whole process, I learned a few things each year that helped me get closer to my goal of consistently taking time for Sabbath rest.

I learned that I needed to be patient with myself in this process. While the ideal would be to take a full day of rest every week, I knew it would be impossible for me to go from taking zero days of rest immediately to taking them weekly. I started by scheduling one full day a quarter as a day for rest. Once I had become accustomed to that, I started shooting for a half-day each month, then a full day each month and so on.

I also learned that I needed to be strategic and creative in scheduling my Sabbath days. Scheduling a day of rest right before a big ministry or family event meant setting myself up for failure. Getting away somewhere other than my house was key for true rest to occur. Dirty dishes are much easier to ignore from the park across town. Sabbath rest can look differently for each of us, but the key for me was choosing to spend a day engaging in activities that filled my soul.

Finally, I became very familiar with the phrase, “That day doesn’t work for me.” Somewhere along the line, I had started believing that I had to give a very important reason for turning down a ministry invitation. However, if an invitation conflicted with a day I had set aside as a Sabbath, I started responding with those simple words. Surprisingly, that was an acceptable answer for most people, and it allowed me to keep my commitment without dreading an awkward conversation about why I was turning down the event for a day of rest (or more often, just agreeing to do whatever was being asked of me in order to avoid the awkwardness).

Sometimes, it still feels a little counter-intuitive to work so hard to schedule an intentional day for rest. However, I’ve come to realize that if I can work hard at strategically managing my ministry and personal schedules, it only makes sense to apply the same amount of diligence toward something this important.

My friend Paul, the very literal Sabbath follower, still is thriving years later in his current ministry position and is an emotionally and spiritually healthy pastor. On the other hand, Jack ended up leaving ministry (unhappily) shortly after our coffee shop conversation. I don’t know the personal details of how they do or do not practice Sabbath rest today, but I can’t help but wonder if their differing approaches had something to do with their outcomes.

I do know it is vital for my own spiritual and emotional health that I strategically prioritize times of practicing Sabbath rest on my calendar. When I am intentional in doing so, I am much more capable in fulfilling my God-honoring roles as a wife, mother, pastor and Christ-follower; and I am able to enjoy the process to a much greater extent.