Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family's Experiment With Holy Time (Young Clergy Women Project) - Softcover

Dana, Maryann Mckibben

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0827235216 ISBN 13: 9780827235212

Publisher: Chalice Pr, 2012

Synopsis

"A 'must-read' for 2013." -Ministry Matters
"Life felt like a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle with 600 pieces." So writes MaryAnn McKibben Dana in the introduction of her book. As she considered her family's frenetic suburban existence--a relentless list of work, errands, carpool, dishes, email, bills, yardwork--she knew something had to change.
 
The family faced a choice: to continue at the same frantic pace or to fight back with a radically different way of being. They went radical. For one year, they committed to a practice of Sabbath-keeping. For a whole day each week, they set aside their doing in order to simply be. Work took a backseat to games, walks, Legos, naps, homebrewing, and leisurely contentment. The practice never got easier--the house was a mess, the kids still fought--but Sabbath became the one essential "to-do" each week.
 
With lively prose ("a fresh voice and energy" -Publishers Weekly), Dana documents the Sabbath experiment as a guide for families of all shapes and sizes. Each chapter includes tips to help you claim Sabbath moments--to see time not as an enemy to subdue, but as a friend to savor.
 
Part of the Young Clergy Women Project series.

About this title

From the Author

Interested in videos and discussion materials for group studies of Sabbath in the Suburbs? Check out SabbathInTheSuburbs.com and click on Sabbath Supplementals.

From the Back Cover

Sabbath In the Suburbs is the beautiful story of one family's decision to spend a year exploring the meaning of keeping Sabbath. It is a powerful affirmation of living a life that does not just manage time, but embraces the moment. MaryAnn McKibben Dana writes with elegance, clarity and humor about the family's search for a creative and workable Sabbath framework, while pondering the transformative and restorative quality of rest.  It is a luminous reflection with deep resonance in our culture of perpetual motion.
-Carrie Newcomer, musician, performer, and Grammy Award-winning songwriter

With this book, MaryAnn McKibben Dana has given the church a great gift:  a funny, insightful chronicle of her family's beginnings to live into the "crusty old practice" of Sabbath-keeping. Sabbath in the Suburbs is decidedly not only for mothers of small children.  It is not only for those who live in the suburbs.  It is for anyone interested in resting with God--anyone interested in freedom--anyone interested in honestly struggling with the spiritual life.
-Lauren F. Winner, author of Mudhouse Sabbath and Still

With sincerity and honesty, MaryAnn McKibben Dana portrays the challenging quest of living the Sabbath while seeking a faithful balance in the abundance of choices and endless demands placed upon families today. This book is beautifully written and a joy to read from start to finish. Once I began I could not put it down. I wish I'd had this resource when I was busy raising children. I encourage all parents to have this book where it can be read and shared with other busy families seeking to "live Sabbath-ly" within the "holy scarcity" of time that is so very precious.
-Kathleen Long Bostrom, author of 99 Ways to Raise Spiritually Healthy Children

Some books negotiate the practical things of life, while others hover on a spiritual plane above the nitty-gritty details of human existence. But it is a wondrous gift when an author can lead us through realistic demands while burrowing a spiritual depth. MaryAnn McKibben Dana has the unique ability to find the mystical in the mundane, and her gift challenges us throughout the pages of Sabbath in the Suburbs. The words of this text will not only delight you, but if you take up Dana's spiritual daring, they will make you more human.
-Carol Howard Merritt, author of Tribal Church

Edition details

• Publisher: Chalice Pr
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0827235216
• ISBN 13: 9780827235212
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 157