Parents and Stress 4

All this week we’re looking at some strategies for reducing the stress you may be feeling as a parent. This comes in response to the recent Surgeon General’s advisory on Parents Under Pressure, and the fact that forty-one percent of parents say that they are so stressed they cannot function. My suggestion for you today is this: make sure that you and your family take a regular weekly Sabbath. Take a few minutes to read the Genesis account of Creation. In Genesis chapter two we read that when God had finished his work of creating all things, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had done. We read that God blessed this seventh day and made it holy, a day set apart from work. In Exodus we read the fourth commandment which instructs us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Our word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word for rest. God has made us for a rhythm of work and rest. Break that rhythm and you and your family will begin to break down. Practice a regular sabbath.