What is a Sabbath Year? Let the grand experiment begin!
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I usually choose a word for each year to cast vision for the goals I have planned.
Last year, my word was “collaborate.” If someone asked me to join them in anything, the answer was yes. I did guest posts, podcast episodes, in person events, conferences, and on and on. I also published three books, started a podcast, and signed with an agent. It was an amazing year, and I loved every minute of it! I grew so much and learned from so many incredible writers.
But at the end of the year, I was tired.
Really tired.
As I was praying about a word for this year, I kept hearing the same things over and over- Rest. Stop.
As a natural born achiever, my vocabulary has little use for these words. What does “rest” really mean? And stop??? That’s a strong word. I can’t just STOP.
And then I remembered these passages in the Bible:
For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
Exodus 23:10-11, NIV
For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
Leviticus 25:3-7, NIV
God’s intent for the Sabbath year is two-fold in these verses. The first is to develop a reliance on Him to provide. To go a year without a harvest is a huge step of faith. The second is to understand that all we have comes from God, and therefore we have no ownership or right to require compensation. Anyone was free to eat from the natural growth in the fields. This rest was a blessing and a gift of generosity to others.
But God, what does this have to do with me?
A quick look at my calendar confirmed my suspicions- this is my seventh year working as an author.
This is my Sabbath Year.
But what does that mean for an American author in modern times? I am obviously not an Israelite farmer with fields to tend.
Thinking about the two intentions that God has for the Sabbath Year, one sentence repeated in my mind.
Nothing for worldly gain.
In this new year, I will still be writing and working on projects, but nothing for worldly gain.
Nothing that brings in income.
Nothing that seeks to grow my readership.
Instead, I will work on whatever God places before me without the pressure to publish, promote, and perform.
What does that mean you??? Well, a few things…
I will not receive a penny of royalties from any books in 2024, so you will notice the prices on online retailers will be very low (they still take their cut, so I can’t make them free). Amazon should have the lowest prices on individual books. However, if you would like to order 12 or more copies of any of my books for classes, group studies, or retreats, please private message me and I can ship them to you at print cost.
The shop on my website will look different. All of my digital products (ebooks and bundles) are free. Many of these products need to be reformatted in order to offer for free, so it may be a few weeks before they are all available. I’ll keep you posted!
Products that aren’t sold on Amazon (Mary’s Treasure and Escape From Sin’s Curse) will be available for purchase on my website at print cost.
I have wrapped up the Sunday God Meets Monday Mom podcast. There will still be weekly episodes until the end of Feb. that I scheduled and completed last year.
I will not publish any new books in the coming year. The two Gold Feather Gardeners series books that were scheduled to release in 2024 will release in 2025.
What about weekly devotions???
I LOVE writing these devotions for you each week, but they may not be as regular as they have been in the past. You may only hear from me twice a month instead of every week.
This is a grand experiment! I don’t know what God has in store, but I know that He needs a clean slate to do it, so I am stepping out in obedience.
Over the last few weeks of planning and preparing for this, God has taken me by the hand and peeled away layers of justification. He has challenged my need to perform to shown me glimpses of the freedom He has in store for me in the coming year of rest. I can’t wait to share with you along the way.
I hope that this year is a year of rest for you too.
Rest from fear and worry as you focus on God’s promises.
Rest from performance and comparison as you are reminded of your identity in Christ.
Rest from pain and regret as you embrace God’s forgiveness.
Rest from perfection and striving as you rely on God’s strength, timing, and plan.
