Hello and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing Hope for Healthy Families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner, and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite time of the afternoon, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. Hey, what have y' all got going on today? I don't know about you, but I am in the thick of summer. I have four kids at home, and I am reaching those days of, okay, we've gotten a little too lax in the schedule and there's a little too much chaos going on here. And maybe I'm starting to think about the schedule of fall, but I kind of have a love hate relationship with it because I want it to come. I love the routine that it brings, but I also hate the routine that it brings. So I don't know about you, but I am feeling that pressure very much. But this morning I was able to be at a local camp and talk with some parents who were there learning how to help their kids through trauma. It is always so encouraging to see parents who are engaged and who really want to do the best for their kids.

Today we're talking about rest and what the Bible teaches us about Sabbath

And something that we're going to talk about today has to do with all of that, because today we're going to talk about rest. And when we're talking about rest, sometimes I think as parents, we can really, feel guilty about any time that we have rest. And if you are a mom like me, you can feel like, oh, my goodness, at the beginning of the summer, I have to plan every single minute. I'm going to be the best mom ever. We're going to have a schedule. Maybe I'm the one that's going to have that schedule on a poster board in the kitchen, or maybe I'm the one that's going to have it online. But we're going to go to the zoo and we're going to go to the library and we're going to read these number of books. Books or any number of things like that. And our best laid plans just don't always come to fruition. And if everyone sits around in their pajamas all day and, you know, eats on the couch and just scrounges in the pantry and you really don't do anything, I don't know about you, but I start to feel guilty about that and I think, oh, I've wasted the day. I have wasted time. Is there anyone out here there who feels like that? Because that is a real source of mom m Guilt for me, and especially when my kids were younger. Now that they're older, that's a little bit better. But even it doesn't matter where we are in life. I know that I just heard a study this week saying that Americans take the least amount of vacation of anyone anywhere in the world. And I do not think that that is a badge of honor. I don't think that that's something to be proud of. We really need to embrace rest. And when I hear about this and I think about taking it sl just, you know, taking some time for yourself, it's so hard because we're living at the speed of a smartphone. And and it, it is very difficult. And so we, we're working on getting our guest here and she's going to talk to us today about the power of rest and the nature of rest and what the Bible and creation teach us about Sabbath living. Because we know that on the seventh day when God was creating, even that is script. And somehow we see it as a character flaw. Like we have to just go, go, go all the time. And that's not the case. But, the truth is, the restless reality of family life right now, today is that we are running ragged. We are just trying our best. Even yesterday with my guest, Brock Eastman, we were talking about just the pressure. If you have multiple kids, you want to encourage all of their interest and maybe they're not interested in the same thing. We're going to different practices, we're going to work, we're going to all kinds of different things. And the cultural message that we get is that our productivity somehow is equal to our worth. And how much we produce and how much we do is a badge of honor. And this is something I really struggle with because I just have. I'm a busy mom and I have a lot of demands. And it is not a badge of honor to send an email at 2:00 clock in the morning. And that's not something to be proud of at all. And so working on that, putting some more boundaries of rest in my life. But really, what if we translated the paradigm to think that rest isn't something that we have to earn, but it's something that we are designed to have, something that God wanted us to have from the beginning. Because if you think about it in culture, we do think that rest is something that we have to earn, that we have to work hard. And we see this in different generations playing out. Now, I am in Gen X and Gen X X tends to work too much, and as do baby Boomers and millennials and Gen Z don't. And so there's this cultural clash where Gen Z and millennials say to boomers and to, Gen X, hey, you guys work too much. And we say, you work too little. But I look at the difference, and I think, you know, if you're looking at Gen X, if you're a baby boomer and you're looking at your vacation time, you think you, you see that as reassurance. When that vacation time adds up, it makes you feel like it's an insurance policy. Like, if something happens, I have time, it'll be okay. You know, I have this kind of security there. And I think, okay, well, maybe if I get up to 80 hours, then I can take a vacation. Whereas millennials and Gen Z, they take a very different view of vacation. it's basically, hey, I got eight hours. That's a whole day. Let's go. Let's take that rest. And I think the balance, as usual, probably lies somewhere in the middle and looking. And we can always find common ground and going back to look at God's design for rest. We know in Genesis 2 that God rested not out of exhaustion, but completion. He had completed a task, and he rest. He rested. And rest is not a, part of creation's rhythm. It's not a sign of weakness. It's not an activity. It's just intentional stillness. It's intentional connection. It is intentional renewal. And that can be a really hard thing to do. But what rest looks like for families, we need to look at rest in a holistic way and look at rest in different planes of our life. One of the first one is spiritual rest. This is important. We need to have our souls have some spiritual rest, releasing the control that we feel like we need and trusting in God provision. We need to pray together, we need to worship together, we need to read scripture together. We need to create margin so that we notice God's presence. And so often we are going so fast. Spiritual rest is something that we just run into church and we come in depleted and defeated. Honestly, I do feel like that's true because when we rest during the week, when we have time to feast in God's presence, to pray and to have those acts of spiritual disciplines where we're reading our Bible, where we are singing, we come into, the church setting and we can feel like we are rested and we can share that rest with other people. But other. But we just come in completely empty. We expect to be completely filled. We expect the pastor, the worship pastor, the staff fill me up, you know, play the worship songs that make me feel better, sing, preach the sermon that makes me feel better about it, and then I'll have energy to face the week. And that's, that's really, really not how God designed us to be. But in addition to spiritual rest, we also need emotional rest. We need those safe spaces for big feelings without judgment. We need to be able to regularly check in with our kids and spouses. How often do you feel your irritation kind of building up, but you don't even notice it until all of a sudden it's blown up all over everybody. You have discouragement that builds up or feelings of resentment, feelings of loss or aloneness. And we don't have time to let our emotions rest. We are human beings and even Christ had emotions. Jesus was hungry, he was angry, he was sad, he was tired. And we have to have the space and the rest for those. And we're so overstimulated by screens and schedules and noise that it's really difficult to just let our emotions be. The last time that you were maybe feeling a little bit down and you're just kind of sitting in that and somebody comes up to you and says, hey, what's going on? What's wrong? Do you feel down? That makes you feel so seen and so loved and so heard. That is really validating. So a great thing to do, but we just don't allow ourselves the space to do that.

In addition to spiritual and emotional rest, we need physical rest as well

In addition to spiritual and emotional rest, we need physical rest. And sleep is at an all time low. And you know how I can tell that? Because sleep supplement sales are at an all time high. And we're looking for that instant gratification. And so we've got to sleep. I've talked about this quite a bit, and if you've been following along on 52 Habits for Healthy Families, you know that sleep is something we actually spent two weeks on. So if you're interested in that, go back and listen to any Friday show and we'll talking about sleep. We also need relational rest best sometimes it is a gift and it is an act of obedience to God to say no to constant obligations and just have some time to be together. So that's what we're diving into to talk about today.

Today we explore how creation itself points us to God's Design for rest

And this may seem just out of left field, but I have a question for you. What can a hummingbird, a jellyfish and a honeybee teach us about the pace of life we were meant to live? Well, today we are going to explore how creation itself points us to God's Design for rest. This must be our science week, because we had Dr. Fizzlebop yesterday with science. Today is science for adults, and we're looking at rest not as an escape, but a rhythm. And my guest today is going to invite us to pause and to look around and to learn from the natural world. How do we step out of hurry and into holy stillness? I'm talking today to Eryn Lynum. She is the author of the book the Nature of Rest, what the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living. And she is a certified Master naturalist, which I didn't even know existed, to be honest with you. And she hosts a top 1% podcast talking about this issue. Eryn, so glad to have you here. Thank you for joining us. hi.

>> Eryn Lynum: Thank you so much for having me.

Eryn Lynum is a certified Master Naturalist and has a popular podcast

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Eryn, let's start with saying what is a certified Master naturalist? Tell us about your and how you got into this and how God led you to this platform of ministry and the message you have for us today.

>> Eryn Lynum: Yeah, so a, certified Master Naturalist is kind of a fancy term for a nature teacher. And I pursued this because my passion and my degree are in theology. And I've always been passionate about rightly upholding the word of truth from second Timothy 2:15. And I saw as my family and I were exploring outside, and I have four kids, and as we were just spending more time in nature, I realized, you know, God has given us so many materials with which we can use to teach biblical truth, and that's really how we see God and Jesus teaching throughout scripture and especially in the gospels, using things like sand and wildflowers and grass and animals, all to teach biblical truth. And so that's really why I pursued this in my writing and podcasting, so that we can use these visuals in a way that kids can remember the deep truths of scripture.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, clearly your message is resonating with people because you have a top 1% podcast. What do you talk about on your podcast?

>> Eryn Lynum: Thank you. Our, podcast is for kids and families, and it's called Nat Theo. That short for natural theology. And this whole concept of being able to glimpse God's character from creation from Romans 1:20. And so it is nature lessons rooted in the Bible, where we teach real science and nature, always from a biblical worldview and always pulling it back to scripture so that our kids are learning science and theology at the same time.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And what have your list? How have your listeners responded to the podcast?

>> Eryn Lynum: Oh, this has been just totally of the Lord. We never expected the response we've had. we. I Kind of launched it as just a hobby back when my second book Rooted in Wonder, released in 2023, thinking, you know, I'll put a little lesson up once in a while. And God, quickly he was like, no, this is your main minist. Because we just thought that this is a powerful way to teach truth. And I mean just watching him like bring it to a top 1%. It recently ranked as the number one education for kids podcast in America. And that's not even based. And so we were just like, lord, what are you doing? And so yeah, he just made it apparent, you know, this is, this is a powerful way not only for children, although particularly for them, they're so visual. But I mean, I have been able just to come to a much deeper face as I study nature and science.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, you're right. I mean thinking about nature and theology, that's not the first thing. I mean if you're starting that podcast, if we're being honest, Eryn, you wouldn't think, oh, this will probably be number one in education. That's amazing. But God. But God. Well, listen, we are just getting started in our conversation and when we come back neck, we're going to talk about how you open the book with an analogy of a hummingbird. And I know my mother in law is a wildlife whisperer. She loves, she has so many hummingbirds in her backyard. I know she's gonna want to hear this and you will too. So don't go away. We're going to be right back with Erin Lyneum and her book the Nature of Rest. With the Bible and creation, teach us about Sabbath living. We've got a word of help, hope and help for you and you won't want to miss it. So we'll see you right on the other side of this break. Because of listeners like you. Preborn helped to rescue over 67,000 babies. Your $28 to sponsor one ultrasound doubled a baby's chance at life. Your tax- deductible gift saves lives. Please join us in this life saving mission. To donate go to preborn.com/AFR. this June 24th marks three years since Roe vs Wade was overturned.

Preborn network of clinics rescue babies from abortion and lead families to Christ

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>> Impossible Things by Chris Tomlin ft. Danny Gokey: Heal the broken- hearted. You set the captive free. You lift the heavy burden. And even now you are lifting me. There is no healer like the Lord our maker. There is no equal to the king of kings Oh our God is with us. We will fear no evil cause you do impossible things. You do impossible things.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is Impossible Things by Chris Tomlin I don't know about you, but God has done some impossible things in situations that seem impossible to me.

Eryn Lynum shares how nature can help us reclaim rest in a restless world

Today it is just been a day, but here we are. It is no coincidence that we're talking about rest because we live in a culture that is obsessed with doing more, sleeping less until we burn out and our families pay the price. Our spirits pay the price. Our souls pay the price. But what if rest isn't something to earn after hard work, but it's something to live from. So we are going to dig into the spiritual soil of scripture today to rediscover rest as a gift. And not only that, a command and a way of being. And our guest, Erin Lynam, is sharing how ancient truths and quiet moments in nature can help us reclaim rest in a restless world. I know many of you want to check out her podcast again. It's called Nat Theo for natural, theology. Is that right, Eryn? Did I get it right? Nature lessons okay? Rooted in the Bible, number one podcast in education of all podcasts. That's just not faith based content. So hey, keep up the demand for that because that is just encouraging to see that.

Eryn writes about what the Bible and creation teach us about Sabbath living

And Eryn, in your book that you have written the nature of rest, what the Bible and creation teach us about Sabbath living. You open the book with an analogy of a hummingbird. Now, I think of a hummingbird, and I think it goes pretty fast. Its wings go pretty fast. What is a hummingbird teach us about rest?

>> Eryn Lynum: Well, you're exactly right. Their wings are so fast, in fact, they can beat their wings or flap their wings around 70 times every second. And just this blur of motion. And my kids and I, we were watching this today. It started, my husband and I were having coffee out on our back deck, and there's a hummingbird pair that's been hanging around our bushes. And the kids and I were watching them this afternoon, and they're just always on the go. And so you think about hummingbirds, just constant motion, and they have to visit around 1,000 to 2,000 flowers every day. But what sustains them is this beautiful strategy called torpor. And torpor, you can think about it kind of like a mini daily hibernation where the little bird is going to go even through these physiological changes, where its body temperature is dropping by about 50 degrees, its heart rate flows, and it becomes really unresponsive. Some people have found them into a pore before and thought that they were deceased because they're so unresponsive and deep at rest. But it is this rhythm of regular rest that sustains them. and the same is true for us. You know, God created us for fruitful work and busyness. We often think of busyness as bad. It's not bad. It's that we need to choose the right kind of busy that aligns with God's plan and purposes. And then all of that fruitful work is meant to be upheld and supported by regular, intentional rest.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And you say that God gives us a pattern of that in scripture. So what is that pattern of rest that you see coming from the word of God?

>> Eryn Lynum: This is so beautiful. When I began to dig into the scriptures, looking at, okay, what does God say about rest? I found that it's not just hinted at here and there. It's not this little footnote. It's actually this highlight throughout Scripture. And we see that rest, is hinted at during creation, established in the wilderness with the Israelites, modeled through the life of Christ and fulfilled at Calvary. And so this pattern we see hinted at during creation, think about this. God worked for six days and then he rested. But he created Adam, the first person on that sixth day. So Adam's first full day was the seventh day, a day dedicated and set aside to rest. And so we see God works and then rest. While we were always meant to begin from rest, really starting with rest. And that fuels everything that we do.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That is a really interesting perspective. You know, you think about the creation story, but you. I've never heard it said quite like that, that. You're right, Adam was created, and then. And then he rested. And what was the second one that you said, Eryn?

>> Eryn Lynum: So rest was then established in the wilderness because. Yeah, at the creation narrative, we have this hint toward the Sabbath, but the word Sabbath is not used until Exodus 16. And so the Israelites are in the wilderness, and they're doing what the Israelites do. They're wandering, they're grumbling, they're hangry. And God shows mercy to them, and he gives them quail and manna. But he gives them these very important instructions. He says, don't go out and gather on the seventh day. It is a holy day, a Sabbath. It is set aside. And this is the first mention of Sabbath that we get. And so the Israelites, really, they would have very little respect for what God was calling them and asking them to do. Surely they could think back to the creation narrative. Okay, God, rested, holy. The same is true for all of us.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Hang on, Eryn. Eryn, can you repeat that last line that you just said? I think we lost you for just a microsecond. And I don't want to lose any of this that you're saying because I'm hanging on every word. So can you just back up a line or two?

>> Eryn Lynum: Yeah, well, looking at the Israelites, when God called them to Sabbath, like, they had very little context for this. And so what we see is that God was truly calling them to enact of faith, a big step of faith. And I believe the same is true for us, that rest and Sabbath are always a step of faith. They feel risky because they're countercultural, truly. And I know when my family and I, when we stepped into Sabbath just over three years ago, it did. It felt like this big risk. But I tell you, God so quickly showed up and has brought so much life and abundance through this practice.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: So, all right, so if I'm following along, we're called to rest. First to work from a place of rest, and we're called to Sabbath. And you describe that so beautifully. I think you said four elements. If I'm following along rightly, correctly, we have two more. Is that right, Eryn?

>> Eryn Lynum: Yeah, yeah, Correct. We looked at rest was hinted at during creation, established in the wilderness, and then we see it modeled through the life of Christ. When we look at the Gospels, Jesus was busy. When he's in his active years of ministry, especially in Mark, chapter one, we just see this whirlwind of activity. And it begins with Jesus coming out of temptation in the wilderness for 40 days. So he's physically weak and he goes right into ministry, calling his first disciples. So he's gathering a team, he's starting a movement, the most long standing, successful startup of all of history. He's healing people, he's teaching, and yet we see that what sustained him was the scripture. Scriptures say he got up early in the morning and went to a solitary place, and there he prayed. And that word, solitary in the Greek, it's eremos. And it can mean a quiet place, solitary wilderness. And so we see this again and again in the life of Christ that he was busy, he was doing the work that God had sent him to do. And yet he had this regular practice and rhythm, of going away to rest and to be with the Father. And then in Mark, chapter 6, verse 31, Jesus invites His disciples to do the same. They are coming off of this busy time of ministry, and he says to them, come away by yourselves to a quiet airymost place and rest a while. And he invites us to do the same. And so we get this model of this really pattern of Christ's life, and he invites us into that rest with him.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And then the last one that I heard you say was in Christ's death. Is that right? Did I catch that right?

>> Eryn Lynum: Yeah, yeah. Because we see, you know, our eternal rest is made possible by the work on Calvary. And so, you know, I think sometimes we focus more on that, like, oh, we'll rest in eternity. We'll rest when we're with Christ. And that's a beautiful picture. And it's the hope that we hold to, and it's the promise that we have when we follow Christ. But also he offers us rest here on earth, which we saw in the other examples. And so it's this, this theological idea of already, not yet, and where, you know, we have the hope of eternal rest with God in eternity. But then also we have the promise of a restful life, a restful, productive life here on earth.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, these things that you're describing are so beautiful. And it's a good reminder, Eryn, that this is biblical guidance that God has given us a model for rest, as you say.

How is Sabbath relevant in today's modern world

And I think it's so difficult in today's world because we really are so busy and we wear busyness as a badge of honor. I'm sure you've heard that phrase before. It's something that we really struggle with. It's always, you know, go, go, go, pedal to the metal. I mean, I, I do struggle with this. I really do. So how is Sabbath relevant? And even more than that, how is it realistic in today's modern world? What would you say to call families who know? Because most of the time it's not families who say, oh, gosh, I didn't realize we were just too busy there. They're all saying, help. We're so busy. We know we're busy. But is it really even realistic? What would you say to those families? And by those families, I mean my family.

>> Eryn Lynum: Yeah, I think that is such a big stumbling block and something the enemy uses to really keep us from God's gift of rest as we think it's no longer relevant in modern society and the culture and the pace that culture tells us to live at. And yet for my family, what we had to do in order to really, we call it celebrating Sabbath and enjoying this gift of rest from God is to switch our mindset and no longer see rest as this optional thing, but instead seeing it as vital and critical. Like even we know from science just how important rest is for our bodies. The same is true for our spirits, for our families, for our relationships. And so just viewing it as absolutely essential, that's what really made a change for us to see. You know, this is something that not only can we do, but we are called and commanded to do because it is God's great gift to us. Think about John 10:10, that Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. And I believe that we access that, abundant life one way through his gift of rest. Rest.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And one of the things that's helped me is just I've started putting rest on my calendar, I've started scheduling it and ah, prioritizing it. Just like I would prioritize an appointment or a practice or a school event or whatever it is. Because if I schedule that, somehow it makes it feel like it's intentional. And it's not just, oh, I'm just choosing to be lazy in this moment. There's so much that I could do, you know, but I'm just gonna not do it. But if I've scheduled that and said, nope, this is in my time, I'm not going to look at the laundry, I'm not going to look at the dishes, I'm not going to look at my email inbox, I'm even going to Turn off the alert so that I don't hear that. How, what are ways that we can really change that mindset to not feel guilty when we rest? And I know there's a lot of people who struggle with this, but you know, Eryn, you and I are both moms of four kids. I feel like mom guilt is real in this space. So how do we really flip the paradigm on that?

>> Eryn Lynum: Absolutely. That. And that's such a good practical thing. And something we really dive into in the book is just carving out margin in our schedules and putting rest on the calendar. For my family, that is a full Sabbath every week where we, that day is protected fiercely and we fight for it. Hebrews says that we need to strive toward rest, work toward rest. So just going in with that mindset, knowing this is going to be difficult, but it's worth it because God call to this. And so making space on our calendar for rest on a weekly basis and then even on a daily basis in the book, I call these selah pauses. Selah, like in the Psalms, this intentional pause to reflect, to worship, to redirect if needed. And so little things during the day like sitting down to have a cup of tea or walking outside and not, you know, we need to realize that five minutes is powerful sometimes for me, that's just stepping outside for five minutes between activities. And it gives me enough of a pause to be able just to recollect and really, just remember and gain perspective. And so putting it on our calendars. And you know, you talked about mom guilt and that's so real and something that I have definitely struggled with. But what I have found is, you know, during the week there's so many things we might want to say yes to to our kids. If my kids come to me and they say, hey, can you read this book with me or play this game with me? And I might have to say no. Sometimes for valid reasons, sometimes for not so valid reasons. But our family's status, which is fiercely protected on our calendar, has become this built in point of connection where I know and my kids know I might need to say no to this during the week, but Sabbath is coming. I did that just this morning. My son wanted me to sit and paint with him, but I was going into a media, I said, hey, I would love to paint with you on Sabbath. Can we make that happen? And he just lit up. He's like, yeah, yeah, let's do that. So it's this built in protected time for connection. So that really that mom guilt has less power, less of a hold over us.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, you mentioned the word Selah, S, E, L, A, H, which is, which is of course a Hebrew word that's found mostly in psalms. And one of the meanings, I think, as you were implying, is, is to pause and to reflect. And you just gave me a thought, Eryn. And when I'm writing rest on my calendar, which is pretty new for me, I have just started doing that and I was so glad to get your book and to get to some more, insight and encouragement and structure for that. But I'm thinking I'm going to write selah in my calendar because that just feels better than writing. You must rest. But it makes, it reminds me that it's holy, that it is commanded, that God tells us to do that. Well, I have so many more questions for you, Eryn. We're almost up against our next break here. When we come back, I really want you to share some more examples of rest in nature. And we'll also talk about some more practical application of how we can experience more rest in our days and weeks and seasons. And just as we've been talking about, finding joy. Joy comes from abiding in Christ. We talked about this from John, how Jesus said, I have told you these things abide in me and I in you, so that your joy may be complete. And when we don't have rest, friends, we don't have joy for sure. And so I encourage you to check out Aaron's book. It is called the Nature of Rest, what the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living. Or you can find her podcast, Nat Theo Nature Lessons Rooted in the Bible. It's launched in the spring of 2023. There's a lot of listeners. She's inviting you to join them. And when we come back, we'll be talking more about rest. If you're convicted, so am I. But don't worry, more hope and help is on the way. God raises up leaders who follow his direction and serve him faithfully. Reverend Wildmon. Reverend Wildmon. The Reverend Donald Wildmon. Those who refuse to compromise his standards. Things were changing and many people just sort of acclimated to it. And Don Wildmon didn't.

>> Brother Don Wildmon: During the Christmas season of 1976 I sat down one night to watch television. I became angry.

>> Brother Don Wildmon: That night.

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>> Brother Don Wildmon: If we lose this cultural war, we're.

>> Brother Don Wildmon: Going to have a hedonistic humanistic society. Find out more and watch the movie at culturewarrior.movie, culturewarrior.movie I know.

>> Even If by MercyMe  : You'Re able and I know you can save through the fire with your mighty hand But even if you don't, my hope is you alone.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is even if by mercy me. And that's a hard thing to say even if you don't, but that is the place that we come to is total trust in God's providence that he has us in his hands. And we are learning today about his hands and the that he used to create the world that we live in. We are having a really good conversation about nature and about rest and the connection that is the connections that are there. Because if you haven't heard us say anything else in this program, hear me say this now. Rest is not a luxury. Rest is not a reward. It is a necessity that is wired into creation and modeled by the Creator Himself. So whether you're in a season of waiting or you're just running on empty, today's conversation will help you uncover practical and grace filled ways to slow down through Sabbath rhythms, journaling, prompts and gentle nature reflections. And it's an invitation to breathe and to trust and to be fully alive and to rest. And we're talking to Eryn Lynum. She's written a book about this, the Nature of Rest with the Bible and Creation teaches about Sabbath living. She's the host of Nat Theo Natural Theology.

You had a medical diagnosis that taught you about what it meant to be restful

And Eryn, this is as we see all the time when we have authors on here, this is a deeply personal journey for you. And you had a medical diagnosis that really taught you about what it meant to be restful. So share with us that personal experience that guided the encouragement that you're giving us today.

>> Eryn Lynum: Well, my family and I about three and a half years ago is when we, we began celebrating Sabbath and getting very intentional about rest in our lives. But really I can see how years before that God was leading me toward this deeply restful life. And it began when I was 14 years old. I was preparing to go overseas for the first m time on a missions trip and I had never before even stepped foot on an airplane. And now I was going to fly to Africa for two months. Before you do something like that, talk about just wetting your toes. Right, right. Well before you do something like, that you have to go to the doctor's office and get a checkup. And so, my parents took me in, and we had no reason to believe or think that anything was wrong. I had a really clear health history. But when the nurse checked my blood pressure that day, it was 56 over 48, which is extremely low. And, the doctor. Yeah, the doctor later told me it was the lowest he'd seen in a living person, which is not a record you want, want with a doctor. And so immediately, this is a red flag that something's off. And my parents said, like, they can remember around that time, I was a bit lethargic and dizzy. But, you know, I was. I was growing up, and they. They figured, okay, this is part of growing up. But this was a big red flag. And so we had further testing done and hospital visits, and pretty soon I was diagnosed with a, autoimmune disorder called Addison's disease. And so Addison's disease is where your adrenal glands no longer function. And your adrenal glands, of course, they produce adrenaline, but also key hormones, including cortisol, that's your stress hormone. So God knew we would live in this. This planet, cursed by sin, with a lot of stress. And so he designed our bodies to be able to cope with that through this adrenal system. Only mine cannot. And so at age 14, stress became potentially fatal to me. And so I had to learn from that young age how to cast all my anxieties upon the Lord and depend on him and go to him in prayer. And, you know, when you're feeling that stress rising and your shoulders tightening, to be able to step back and rest. And so this diagnosis and this disease that I've lived with now for over 20 years, God has used it so much just to teach me the necessity of rest.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Rest that I'm sure that that was such a scary experience. And, you know, it. For me, Eryn, I've sat on the other side of that, you know, delivering the diagnosis and seeing patients who grapple with that, because it is. It is a complete restructuring of your life. There is a before and there is an after. And it can feel different when this doesn't feel like you didn't have an option. Like you said, stress can be fatal. And I'm just so, grateful that you are here today to share all of the lessons that you've learned, because many of us don't have that kind of life or death call to rest. It's just. Okay, I know I need to, but there's no real urgency about it or emergency about it, but you have seen that.

Eryn says God designed all of creation to thrive through rest

And I would love for you to tell us some more stories about how through your journey, you started, started to see examples of rest in nature.

>> Eryn Lynum: Yeah, this is such a sweet thing. You know, as I started working, as a naturalist and I was working and just bringing together, seeing all these connections between scripture and science and nature. And then at the same time, our family is just going into this, this new season of being intentional about rest. And just like we talked about the hummingbird earlier, what I began to see is God designed all of creation to thrive through rest. And we see it in all sorts of creatures and plants. And another one I love is the bee. Because we often think about bees in the context of a busy bee. You know, they have so many different jobs. Even as they grow up, they have different jobs. And the forager bees who are in charge of going out and foraging, finding the nectar and the pollen, and bringing it back to the hive, when they come back to the hive, they have to somehow communicate with their hive mates where the flowers are that they have found. And so they do this very intricate flight pattern. It's called the waggle dance, which is just a really funny name for something in science. And so they perform this waggle dance and scientists believe that it communicates three different things about the nectar that they have found. First, what direction it is in, second, how far away it is, and then third, even the quality of the nectar that they have found. And so, to communicate at this level, this dance has to be very intricate, very detailed. And the bee, if it is not rested, if it is exhausted, if it is burnt out, it can't perform that waggle dance accurately. And so even a busy bee, in order to communicate and do its God given work in its hive, it depends also on this regular rhythmic rest.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I can see how people want to listen to your podcast, Eryn, because those kinds of things are so fascinating. And I love those examples of such intricate intelligent design that just point us to our creator and show so much order throughout creation. And that is really encouraging to hear. And so I know I would encourage, if you're looking for a practical way to experience more rest in your days, I think taking a listen to Nat Theo would be a great way to start. But Eryn, what are other practical ways? Give us some more tips on. Okay, because again, most people know if they're too busy, they know if they're stressed. But what prompts them to action? What is something that can get them out of that Rut. And maybe this is the time that we make it different. Just like you described your family's intentional change to Sabbath. How did you do that? And what are practical tips that we can learn from that?

Let's talk about Sabbath and then I'd share something you can do daily

>> Eryn Lynum: Yeah, well, let's talk about Sabbath and then I'd like to share something you can do on a daily basis.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay.

>> Eryn Lynum: So with Sabbath, I often encourage people, you know, the scriptural model we have is a full day. And so that's ideal. Let's strive for that. And that is what truly allowed our family to live at rest and from rest. But even if you have to start with, with say a four hour chunk during a weekday, start there, just have a starting point, commit to it, protect that time and see what God does with it. And I encourage people to write two lists. And so think about the word Sabbath coming from the word Shabbat. It can mean to both stop and delight. So your lists are going to be a stop list and a delight list. Write the things that you're going to stop and set aside for that time or that day. That's probably any kind of regular work. Notifications, media, spending money. For our whole first year, we didn't even drive on the Sabbath. We stayed home. And so writing down those things you're going to set aside and stop and then write a delight list. Things that you delight in, that inspire you, that refresh you, that might be reading great books, going on a walk in creation, spending time cooking a fresh meal with fresh ingredients, if that's something you don't get to do during the week, listening to good music, playing games with your family. All those things that we think, I would love to get to that, but we don't make time for it during the week. Sabbath is a time for those things, for worship, for working in the garden, if that's what you really enjoy doing. And it's refreshing. So now you have your time or your day set aside and you have your list of things you're going to stop and you have a list of things you're going to delight in.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That's really helpful because so often we just beat ourselves up and we just think about the stop list. Like, okay, I'm not going to do this, I'm not going to do this. But thinking about, what are the things that bring you joy? What are the things that bring you delight? I know I've really been working on this, Eryn, with my family on Sabbath, and we love having a big extended family meal together and we love just hanging out by the pool and just playing cards and talking about our week and praying for each other. And let me not even start to talk about the Sunday afternoon nap, because that is like. That is become sacred. I love a Sunday afternoon nap. And I know we've talked about sleep and there's controversy about napping or not to nap. I won't even go into that. But that has been my time to rest. And really all of this comes back, Eryn, to abiding with God, abiding in Christ, just like the verse from John I was talking about, abide in me, me and I in you. How does abiding, concentrating our positive energy that way, instead of just stopping doing to start abiding, how does that lead to more rest?

>> Eryn Lynum: Yeah, so what I found in the Scriptures is really all of these ideas of rest, weekly rest, seasonal rest, daily rest. The foundation is the spiritual concept of abiding that we see in John 15. Because we can't always be on a Sabbath day. We can't always go away to a quiet place like Christ did in the Gospels. But what we do always have access to is God's restful presence. And as we abide, think about that word in the Greek. It's meno, which means to dwell or to remain or to stay. And, we can have certainly just a difficult time with that. Right. We're constantly wanting to go, go, go. But when we learn to abide and just stay in God's presence, we have his rest always with us. And if I can, I'd like to share kind of a daily activity that you can do for that.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Absolutely. I'm writing it down.

>> Eryn Lynum: We talked about these selah pauses, and I have found these so crucial for just living a restful life. And so one I love doing is from Psalm 23. And it is, Think about those words, Psalm 23, if you've ever said it aloud, or sometimes I'll just say it in my mind or in prayer, and it says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Think about those words, I shall not want. I add those to the end of every stanza. So the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, I shall not want. He leads me beside, still, quiet. That word means restful waters. I shall not want. And I go through the entire psalm like that. So it might take me a few minutes. But what we're doing is when we say I shall not want, we are removing ourselves, allowing God to remove us from a place of discontent or fear of missing out. Because that's what really drives hustle and hurry. And we are placing ourselves back into a place of contentment and relying on God. Think about him calling the Israelites stop gathering on the seventh day. Trust me, I am your provider. When we say I shall not want, it gives us the space to rest because we are remembering God himself is our provider. We don't have to keep gathering. And so this is just a quick Selah pause, a daily habit you can do to help you be more at rest throughout your day.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, I, I hear that and it is so encouraging. And I know probably people listening and myself too, Eryn, we think, yeah, when we do that, we feel it and, you know, it helps and, you know, it's good. And yet somehow it's hard to go back to. It's hard to sustain because you just do feel that pressure exactly like you were talking about. And I can hear, you know, okay, here's my stop and list. But then your mind just goes into overdrive and you think, okay, I'm going to stop doing this, but what if. And then fill in the blank, you know, what if my Monday goes horrible? What if my email inbox explodes? What if my kids miss out? Just like you just talked about fomo, fear of missing out, being a big driver of stress. And you just start to think about those what if?

You talked about preparing physically, spiritually and mentally for Sabbath

So I'd love for you just to give a final word of encouragement for stepping into rest and staying there.

>> Eryn Lynum: Yes. Well, I love you talked about before we came on, you were talking about the different types of rest. And I believe that we have to prepare for rest physically, spiritually, and mentally. And so physically, like my family, before we go into Sabbath, will be picking up the house and getting any groceries we need for Sabbath and doing these physical preparations that are really marking this time as different, as sacred. And then mentally, you know, you mentioned things like the email inbox. Something I do is I have. I will answer any lingering emails and text messages and then I'll actually set an away message on my email every Sabbath. And I usually leave it the whole weekend. And so if anyone emails me, it says, hey, thanks so much for your message. My family's resting. And it has a note, in there about Sabbath, and then it says, I'll get back to you in the new week. And so mentally, I'm freed from that pressure. So anything you need to do to just mentally free yourself from the pressure. And then spiritually, just going in with prayer. And I mentioned our family begins with communion. So consider these ways and pray about them. How does God want you to prepare physically, mentally and spiritually so you can truly access and enjoy his rest.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That's so encouraging. Let this be a gentle reminder you for friend that rest is not a reward for finishing your to do list. It is a sacred rhythm woven into the very fabric of creation. And that includes you. And I pray that as you seek rest, the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be gracious and give you peace. I'll see you right back here tomorrow. It's Christmas in July. Do not miss it. Going to be so fun. See you then.

>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

Eryn Lynum talks with Jessica about what the Bible and Creation teach us about sabbath living.

Rx for Hope: Live Every Day in God's Restful Presence 

https://erynlynum.com/