Year of Jubilee

July brings us to the halfway mark of our year.  It feels like a good time for a "do over" doesn't it? Maybe you started the year with certain goals and ideas and they took a turn along the way or fell by the wayside.

I started the year a bit unsure of where I was going in 2017.  I turned 50 in December and just had so many things rolling around in my head about that.  I became a grandmother and the school year quickly ended last month and I am looking at another senior year with our third child and our youngest is in 8th grade.  I need for this year to slow down!

First I started 2017 without a theme.  That was quickly remedied as I started reading books for the year.  God has repeatedly thrown the themes of Sabbath, slowing down, clearing out, empty nesting, marriage focus...  in my path with all I have been reading and with sermons at church.

About six weeks ago I was reminded that there are three kinds of Sabbath in the Bible...  a weekly Sabbath, a seven year Sabbath and a Year of Jubilee every fifty years.  I am fifty.... THIS IS MY YEAR OF JUBILEE!!!  Realizing that has clarified what God is showing me through all of this.

In a Year of Jubilee it seems everything STOPS!  There is a rest for the land and the people.  It is a year of freedom... slaves were set free to go back to their families and their homes.  It is a year of celebration.  There were no days of planting or harvesting so the land had an opportunity to rest. Property was returned to it's original owner.  Money issues were settled with the cancellation of debt. It is a year of truly trusting God and recognizing that He is the creator of all things.  His command is to rest and when Israel did not heed that command they were taken into captivity.  It is to be sacred... and holy!

If you want to know more about this you can head over to Leviticus 25.

Now, I know this was in regard to the commands given to Israel but let's play WHAT IF....

What if we did this when we turned 50?

What if we took a year off from the crazy and the busy and we just focused on God and our family?

What if we focused on paying off our debt.

What if we spent more time taking long walks and listening to beautiful music.

What if we spent time celebrating with our family.

What if we loved our lives and growing older instead of dreading it?

What if we focused on the Holy things of God and the sacredness of all that He has done for us?

What if we said no to the things that crowd out that still small voice?

What would happen?

I wish that I had thought about these things before I hit 50.  I wish I had planned for a Year of Jubilee in my own life.  I am grateful to Barbara Rainey and Susan Yates for addressing this in their book on Empty Nesting that I just finished.  I wish I had read it sooner... BUT....

Guess what... it is not too late!  I am going to start right where I am.  If I am truly honest I have to say God has already been pushing me in this direction since around November of last year anyway.  I was just not listening closely enough. Sometimes He has to hit me over the head to get my attention! LOL

There have been a lot of things I have let go over the past year and I have planned days to stay home and days of recovery much more with the autoimmune issues.  I have listened to more music and read more books.  I have eaten more with my family and focused on so many blessings.  It has not been perfect but I can see God's hand in slowing me down.  I can see that He has been speaking and showing me what He wants.  I need to hear better!

The rest of 2017 will look a lot more like a Year of Jubilee for me... intentionally.  I am in the process of changing my focus for the fall and building a Sabbath time for each week.  I am saying no to everything that takes my time away from family with the exception of my little part time job.  We are paying down debt as quickly as we can and cooking more together, eating together, playing together. I plan to continue to read  the Bible daily (50% of the way through already), read more books (my goal is 40), sit outside, take walks, take a tea time again, enjoy my meals more, go to bed earlier and sometimes sleep a little later and certainly relax more.  I will take more pictures and play more music.  I will journal, write, blog, vlog, be grateful... much more often than I do now!  I will not let my Year of Jubilee go by unnoticed.  I plan to celebrate and live it well.

So, what is God showing you this year?

Are you planning any special goals and such for the second half of 2017?

Do you have a theme you have been living this year?

Leave a comment below and share with us!

Slower Days

I have to admit I am truly enjoying a slower schedule lately.  I am trying not to put too much back into it.  There is joy in puttering and routine.  There is joy in slow starts in the mornings and slower evenings with time for movies and games with the family.  

I am spending my mornings here lately...

Outside in the garden... under the trees.  This particular shot is taken from my sunflower area.  I am sad that I only have one sunflower this year because none of my other seeds came up.  I chalk it up to the fact that the package was a few years old and we had horrible heat during June that just killed so much of my garden this year.  We were not able to keep up with the water on the garden due to some serious drought conditions we have endured this year here in the Southwest.

But, we have since had a bit of rain... not earth shattering, record breaking rain but rain... enough to green up some things.  The mornings for the past two weeks have been very nice.  We have started our days in the mid to upper 60's and a few mornings I even needed a light sweater to tool around in the garden in.  

I am enjoying my purple Adirondack chair and table set this year more due to the coolness of the mornings.  I spend time reading... in my Bible and in whatever book I am reading at the time.  I recently finished a book called Barnheart by Jenna Woginrich.  

I enjoyed it very much.  So much, in fact, that I picked up her prequel called Made From Scratch and hope to start it this weekend.

Dan and the boys cleaned the yard up this morning and cut the grass.  I always love yard cleaning days.  I am drawn back to the Adirondack on those days following because it is so lovely out when everything is cleaned and properly in it's place.

I have also had a lot more time for birdwatching.  We put this cute little "Coleman Lantern" birdfeeder out and the birds come by the double digits to partake.  It is just outside my dining room window so I can watch as I enjoy a meal.  They are so curious to watch.  They take turns and if one is taking too long of a turn at the feeder another will gently nudge them to get their own turn.  The feeder is designed to be for smaller birds so the finches tend to be the ones coming regularly.  Occasionally a rather large dove or quail will show up and they cannot quite get to the feeder.  They will try several different angles and then fly away in frustration.  Sometimes they sit longingly watching as the finches enjoy their meal.  Such curious animals, indeed.

I am longing more and more for something in the way of a farm out in the country but for now, I am making this little suburban homestead a place of peace and enjoyment.  

As I sit here typing at the dining room table I have just spied my first orange hummingbird of the year.  We have had a plethora of hummingbirds in our yard this year.  We have seen several nests around our yard.  One is even perched in one of our climbing rose bushes up close to the house.  They are fascinating birds.  We have been thrilled to see a mama nesting and then the babies learning to fly.  We still have a nest of swallows on our front porch and we cannot bring ourselves to get ride of the nest once they leave for the season.  They always come back and use it the next year and we get the privilege of watching the cycle happen over and over again.  

Well, I have become intrigued by this little orange hummingbird.  I need to go see more.  

Until next time... take time to slow down and enjoy the little things.

Blessings,

~Leann