Sabbath Box for the Win!

My husband and I have recently started observing the Sabbath. I mean, we have always gone to church but now we are actually trying to have a "Stop Day" - a day when we cease striving and rest. Could you use some rest? Check out my articles on Sabbath here.

"But Betsy," you may be saying. "How could I possibly rest when my house is filled with chaos (ahem) children?"

Enter Sabbath Box for the win!

This is a fairly simple concept but it has worked beautifully for our family in our current life stage. By the time we get home from church and finish lunch the baby is ready for a nap and in our house the big boys have "quiet time" whenever the baby naps. This is very important...mommy needs coffee and Jesus every afternoon!

Usually the boys have their hour-long quiet time in separate bedrooms but on Sundays we have started allowing the boys to spend their quiet time together playing with the toys I have placed in the Sabbath Box.

You know those toys that were fun for about a week and then ended up in the back of the closet? Yep. Those are the Sabbath Box treasures. Dig those babies out of storage and they will be brand new again!

Here's what the boy's (ages 5 and 4) found in their box this past week:

Now the key to this strategy is to pick different toys each week (or at least rotate them). I usually go around the house (or closet) Saturday evening and make sure I have a box full of fun. In addition to the "new again" toys I usually add in a card game, a few fun picture books and a puzzle.

The Sabbath Box has been buying us about two hours of peace and quiet which is amazing! How do you honor the Sabbath? Any tips or tricks to finding time to rest? Leave ideas in the comments!