Book Review – Planning a Successful Sabbath

Planning a Successful Sabbath

The book review I am doing today has me very excited! I hope it will meet a need for many of you. As you can tell from the title, it’s about Shabbat. But it is unique in that it is specifically written for single moms. Single moms are in the position of covering employment, domestic duties and childcare, making it that much harder to faithfully keep the Sabbath. If you are in that position, this book is for you. But any mom can truly benefit from this book. I read it and came away with plenty of encouragement, ideas and tips. If you are just realizing you need to keep Shabbat, or you have been for awhile and perhaps feel like you are getting in a rut, this book will be helpful to you.

Now, let’s take a peek inside.

The book is divided into three sections: The heart, The kids, The home.

The heart

In this section, you will be asked to ponder some deep questions, like – Why do I believe I should be keeping the Sabbath? What is keeping me from keeping the Sabbath? Once your heart is fully on board, and you’ve taken the time to prayerfully answer the questions presented in this section, you will have the conviction to carry on when things get difficult. You will need that conviction when family or neighbors don’t understand the changes you are making in order to keep Shabbat.

The kids

When we began keeping Shabbat, I was pregnant with my fourth child. We had been forced to leave the church because our beliefs suddenly ran in stark contrast to what the Pastor expected us to teach. We had to explain all this to our three children in a way that they could understand. Now that I’m expecting my seventh, I am so thankful for YHVH’s mercy. He took our fumbling attempts to begin keeping Shabbat, and put in our children an understanding and love of Torah that is beyond my comprehension. This section of the book will show you how to win your children’s hearts. This must be done delicately and purposefully, especially with older children. But when you get your children to look forward to Shabbat, and begin to desire to obey Torah for themselves, the reward is amazing! Let this book hold your hand through the process.

The home

Don’t all raise your hands at once, but does anyone still have weeks where they are just barely pulling things together to be able to truly relax and refresh on Shabbat? My heart longs for the Sabbath, but my home sometimes feels like it is fighting against me! As I’m sure you were hoping, this section of the book gives you the nitty gritty nuts and bolts to making a restful Shabbat happen in your home. You will find scheduling tips, menu ideas, and lots of grace.

This is a rather brief ebook, but when I finished reading it, I was overwhelmed with the amount of grace that it was written with. I want to thank Rose of Agape Visions for blessing us with this book. There is no judgement here, only a hand stretched out offering to help you on this tremendous journey. I have sometimes felt that perhaps people were judging me because Shabbat is far from perfect in our home. I have read of Shabbat in other people’s homes and felt frustrated because it didn’t look like that in our home. But Shabbat is a journey. It is unique and special in every home. It is a gift from the Father to us, so that we can have a day to rest and renew our relationship with Him! Thank  you, Rose, for reminding me of these tremendous truths.

I am so excited to tell you that you can download this free ebook – Planning a Successful Sabbath – by visiting this link: http://www.agapevisionsinc.com/planning-a-successful-sabbath-ebook/ and signing up for the Agape Vision newsletter. I would also encourage you to check out the site while you are there. You will find a blog with helpful articles about Torah living specifically geared to single moms, but many are helpful for us all. Rose, the founder of Agape Visions, is a Sabbath keeping, single mom of three girls that I have been blessed to get to know better. She offers personalized help with spiritual growth and personal organizing.

How many of you plan to download the book? When you do, please share with us how it has been a blessing to you. 🙂