So right now in my season of life I am constantly doing something. Whether that is changing diapers, cleaning messes, or feeding littles mouths, the responsibilities I have don’t ever stop. Even on my sabbaths.
When I entered this busy season of motherhood with babies and now toddlers my sabbaths began to feel unmanageable and just not restful.
I was so stressed that I wasn’t resting “like God intended” and that my sabbaths were not pleasing to Him. But that’s just so not true.
Matthew 11:28-30 tells us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The Lord’s sabbath is not supposed to be stressful. If you’re feeling that way there is a heart issue we must first address (I’ll get to that in a moment.) Our Heavenly Father sees you and understands the season of life you are in.
And remember, He also created the sabbath for mamas who are knee deep in the toddler season.
So let’s reset our mindsets and realign our hearts when it comes to the Lord’s sabbath before I give you some tips for having a restful Shabbat with little toddlers.
In this season of life I have had to let go of the physical preparation. I do the best I can to prep food for our sabbath, get our home tidied, and prepare our family as a whole for the Lord’s day. But I have learned that preparing my heart does far more good in this season.
A few sabbath’s ago my youngest was horribly teething and had been running a fever for three days. That prep day I got done as much as I could but most of the day consisted of just sitting and cuddling with him. And then my sabbath consisted of rocking and trying to comfort his cries literally all day. If I allowed it my sabbath could have been stressful and unmanageable. But I decided to prepare my heart for the Lord’s rest.
You can still find rest and shalom admits the messes and many diapers. Our Heavenly Father will not walk away from mothers because they are busy. He comes to women where they are.
As you are mopping up a spilt drink on sabbath morning the Lord will be there. And as you are rocking a teething baby on your Shabbat afternoon He will give you peace and speak to you where you are.
That’s what happened to me that sabbath. As I was walking my little one around the kitchen, trying to get him to fall asleep, the Lord reminded me that this is what many of Mary’s sabbaths looked like. She spent many of her sabbaths tending to cries and trying to put a little teething Yeshua to sleep.
You can actually have a restful sabbath with toddlers in your home.
It is possible when you shift your mindset from wanting the “perfect” restful sabbath to allowing God to use you as an example of His love towards your family during this season of life.
There are some things that I like to prepare ahead of time that will allow me some free time to read my Bible and have some restful moments on some of my sabbaths and I want to share these to hopefully inspire you.
Quiet time baskets
These are very fun and special to our toddlers because we only have these on sabbaths. I grab a basket and fill it with a few books, special toys, coloring books, snacks, and anything else that I think will hold their attention for a good amount of time. Depending on the age of your kid you can add different things to keep them entertained while you spend some time reading your Bible.
Busy Boxes
These are similar to the quiet time baskets but are more activity focused. I’ll add things like play dough and cookie cutters, oats and scoops, or kinetic sand and little cars to small storage bin type boxes and these will keep them entertained for a while on Shabbats.
Worship
If your little ones are having a rough day or you just need to get some energy ran out on your sabbath afternoon, turn on some worship music and dance. This is always fun for our boys! Listener Kids and Good News Guys on YouTube are some of our favorites!
Television
This isn’t always my go-to but sometimes it can be special to turn on a 30 minute show for them while I’m heating up lunch, reading my Bible, or just enjoying it with them. Lately we’ve been loving Owlgories, Super Book, and Bible Adventures which are all free on YouTube.
Get outside
Whether you decide to just spend some time in your backyard, at a park, or at a local creek it’s a great way to spend the sabbath with your littles.
Prepare ahead
Some days this isn’t possible, like I mentioned before, but if you can prepare all you can ahead of your sabbath day it really helps it to be more restful. And you don’t have to prep just the day before. I will sometimes start preparing things three or four days ahead of our sabbath. I like to do things like making meals and snacks, filling diaper baskets, setting up quiet time baskets and busy boxes, and setting out clothes so our sabbath morning can start smoothly.
Alright mama, I hope those tips will help you actually have a restful sabbath with toddlers running around your home. Because it is possible.
This season of life is a blessing so don’t allow the lies from the enemy to take away the peace that comes from the Lord and from observing His sabbath. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
