25 Ways to Celebrate Sabbath

            Over the years, Sabbath has consistently become the most refreshing twenty-four hour period of my entire week. It was so loving for God to set aside Friday night sundown until Saturday night sundown for us to stop and rest in His goodness and grace. There is nothing sweeter than stopping the chaos to celebrate Sabbath! 

            My parent's contagious joy for the Sabbath has encouraged me to have the perspective of Sabbath being an absolute delight. Since my dad is a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, our family has been blessed to have a large church family that spreads from Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Hawaii, and Nebraska. My prayer is that Sabbath will spark joy in you and that you are encouraged to expand the way you experience the depth of God’s vast love for you, on the most blessed day of the entire week! 

1. Hammocking—There are so many hammocks to choose from! I think I might go with…eeny, meeny, min, ENO. This has become such a relaxing leisure activity. Whether you bring your Bible to read or friends to hammock with, it is really rejuvenating.

Swinging on by to say Happy Sabbath

     2. Digging deep into the Word—The Bible contains heavenly wisdom, direction, and encouragement that is unlike any other book sold on the shelf. Divine advice is freely given to all who ask the Holy Spirit to show them. Memorizing Scripture has saved my sanity on multiple occasions because when I am at my weakest, reciting the verses shatters any darkness that attempts to overtake me.

     3.  Visiting other churches—Having a home church where you can consistently be involved in is beautiful. It is also exciting to take opportunities to visit other churches. While I was learning Spanish, I enjoyed worshiping with the Spanish church family. It was great because the Holy Spirit interpreted for me.

     4. Charades—Acting out Bible stories and taking on the role of Bible characters is so much fun, especially with groups of people. This is fun for the whole family and helps engrain the stories into our minds. Some healthy Christian competition between teams can be a light-hearted way to enjoy time together.

I wonder what it was like to hold baby Jesus?

     5.  Sabbath School—Babies to the baby boomers all have their own fellow believers that they can look forward to seeing each week during Sabbath School. The Northside Seventh-day Adventist Young Adults meets every Sabbath morning at 9:45. Engaging lesson discussions, time and money ministry decisions, and a delicious breakfast treat, makes celebrating the Sabbath sweeter together. We would love to have you join us soon!

Sabbath School at Camp Au Sable's Campfire Point

     6. Exploring the outdoors—Our Creator has lavished His love for us through designing nature into a masterpiece. Exploring the waterfalls in Hawaii to the mountains in Colorado, God’s handiwork is everywhere! Go outside and discover the creatures that are alive, soak up the Sabbath sunshine, and ask God to show you something that He designed that you have yet to realize.

Manoa Valley Rainbow

   7. Camping—Saying Happy Sabbath to shooting stars is one of the ultimate ways I like to welcome the Sabbath. Don't delay this family getaway, bring the bug spray, and enjoy it in every way!

Spent this night under the sparkling sky and woke up to bonding around the bonfire

    8.  Hiking—Makapuu Lighthouse Trail on the Island of Oahu is gorgeous. Walking through parks, around lakes, and along rivers is healing. There is nothing like getting some much needed exercise all the while enjoying all of creation. 

Makapuu Lighthouse Lookout

     9. Glow bombing—Passing out encouraging literature to strangers is often what God uses to restore hurting souls. Visit glowonline.org to find out more about Giving Light to Our World. At Camp Au Sable it was so much fun to take a busload of campers and staff to downtown Grayling to pass out GLOW tracts to the community.

We let it glow in Grayling! Glow spread the good news!

     10.  Baptisms—Witnessing hearts surrender completely to God is what it is all about. There is nothing more fulfilling than living a life with Jesus. Baptisms are my favorite birthday parties to go to!

Three Camp Au Sable campers were born again

    11. Blogging—If you think that writing is therapeutic to you, blogging could be a way for you to spend some time. As a graduate student, I do not have the leisure of blogging throughout the week. Thankfully, today is Sabbath so I am able to blog about God’s goodness! There are some stories that if you had written down, they could be an encouragement to you when you need to remember what God has done for you. The beauty of blogging is that you can save these stories and share them with others who would be blessed to read them.

    12. Potluck—Churches hold different potluck traditions, so it is key to find out exactly which Sabbaths of the month they are held! In Hawaii at the Honolulu Japanese Seventh-day Adventist church in Manoa, there was a potluck held every single week. There are always two food lines plus a dessert table, one is American and one is Traditional Japanese food. My favorite position was to strategically place myself in between both lines so that I could weave in and out to get a variety of cultural and American foods. Ending on the dessert table (or going there first some weeks) was always a must. At the Northside Seventh-day Adventist church in Lincoln, Nebraska, we have a delicious potluck the second Sabbath (Saturday) of the month. On weeks that the church does not hold potluck, take a picnic to the park with some friends, invite some old and new friends to your home for a meal, or go serve the homeless at the local shelter.

Japanese line

    13.  Vespers—Union College and Andrews University hold diverse vespers that I looked forward to going to when I was a student. At Andrews we usually end vespers with giving someone a Sabbath hug. It is a delight to welcome the Sabbath with peers. Even though I am a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I plan on going to Union College’s vespers again. Even if you are not near a school that holds vespers, you can start holding vespers at your place and get a solid group going or you can live-stream Andrews University Vespers at https://www.andrews.edu/livestream/.

Vespers

    14.  Blessing a family member—Going around the circle and saying a blessing that you claim for a family member or friend, could be by far the most tender words of affirmation they will ever receive. Asking God to bless them in a specific way is empowering. Ellen White tells us that Jesus records kind words as if they were spoken to Himself.

    15.  Treasure Experiences—There are moments that have been set up by holy angels waiting for you to take advantage of. Pray for divine appointments to happen to you and for the courage to share your faith with someone else whether that is ministering to their physical, spiritual, or emotional needs. Share the miracles God has done for you because that may be exactly what another person needs to hear to be encouraged on their own walk with God.

    16.  Sabbath traditions—In middle school my teacher held Sabbath celebration every Friday before we were dismissed. Students took turns bringing a special treat for the class. Miss Beardsley would light the Sabbath candles and we would sing, “I’m Happy It’s Sabbath.” Think about what Sabbath tradition you can start in your own home. My family gets a kick out of saying a Sabbath blessing for each other and saying what we are thankful for.

    17.  Instrumental—The gift of music is something we will continue to explore on the New Earth. The sweet tunes of praising Jesus brings a melody to my soul. Bring your ukulele, guitar, or violin to Sabbath School to help lead song service or serenade the sick and elderly at the local nursing home. Write a song and carry the tune with you throughout your whole week.

Getting in tune with God

    18.  Character development—The only part of us that we get to take to heaven is our character. God is going to give us new bodies free of aches and pain. Why not give God the tools now to chisel our character? Victoriously conquering bad habits and destructive mindsets starts with surrendering ourselves fully to God. Ask Him to show you what needs to change and He promises to give you the strength for transformation.

    19.  Family time—Nothing beats good times with the family. Take your zoo pass with you and enjoy meeting the animals Adam got to name.

    20.  Rest—Letting your body recoup from a whole week of go-go-go is a must.

    21.  Break from school and work—Taking a 24 hour break from all school work has never hurt my grades or performance at work. It has only ever served to boost my stamina for the rigors of academics and increased my trust in God’s faithfulness.

    22.  Prayer—Call up your far away friends and ask if there is anything you can pray with them about. Message someone with a written out prayer that you are claiming for them. Pray for your husband, wife, children, siblings, parents, co-workers, and colleagues. Praying that God blesses those who have hurt me has healed multiple relationships and all the glory goes to God’s restorative power!

    23.  Giving Bible Studies—The adventure of giving Bible studies to children with my dad began today! When my dad asked one of the kids who they want to meet someday they said, “Justin Bieber.” I said, “Never say never.” Haha. Encouraging these children to deepen their friendship with Jesus is a Sabbath adventure we are going to continue together!

Today's Sabbath adventure was studying the Bible together

   24.   Sermons— If your pastor is like my dad and has a study guide for you to follow along, make sure to bring your pen and Bible along with you to church. Prayerfully consider asking God if He wants you to preach someday. It could be as simple as sharing your personal testimony with your church family. It is an experience that is worthwhile!

If a 10 year old can give a bee-autiful sermon about how honey was the sweetest ingredient in Bible times and that we need to crave Jesus, then all of us can too!

    25.  Mission trip—You can locally serve through missions on college campuses and reaching the hearts of the homeless, or by crossing into uncharted territory to bring the gospel with you! The past year a group of my closest friends and I enjoyed going to Chicago to share the love of Jesus with homeless people and quickly realized that the people we met on the streets ended up blessing us more than we ever could bless them. Check out our Facebook page called Least Of These Ministries https://www.facebook.com/chicagoutreach/?fref=ts

During our first trip to Chicago we met Rabbit and he had us read out loud Matthew 25, which inspired Least Of These Ministries to continue

Exodus 20:8-11 says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

            Sabbath adventures are waiting for you to discover every single week. If Sabbaths are this invigorating on earth think about how extraordinary they are going to be throughout eternity! Sabbaths were made for you, have you truly enjoyed them yet? 

In His Joys,

Hannah Elise Abbott

What It's Like to Room with Three SAU Nursing Majors

          Happy Sabbath from Camp Au Sable! The Summer is flying by as this is our last full day of Teen Camp. The sweet Sabbath songs fluttering into my open window are from the praises being lifted up from the campers and staff at Campfire Point. I am in my bed trying to soak up the Sabbath's rest and heal in time for tomorrow's new batch of happy campers.
 
          Summer camp sickness seems to attack mostly all of the staff at some point during our time together. I was not expecting for this to hit me so suddenly because in the past I have been one of the last ones to get sick and it was never a fever, just a sore throat. When I first found out that all three of my roommates were nursing majors from Southern Adventist University, I was definitely the only one representing speech-language pathologists and that has turned out to be the biggest blessing of all time!

 

Esther, Hannah (me), Tetyanka, and Bethany

          On Tuesday night my roommate Bethany took my temperature and it was 102.7 degrees. She took it a couple of times to make sure that it was accurate and by the way I was feeling I am sure it was! She got a cool rag and put it to my head while she ran to go get our camp nurse. Thankfully it did not take long for my fever to break to 99.9 degrees. There is a constant tickle in my throat and it is not because anyone is making me laugh! As hydrated as I am from drinking water from my purple Camp Au Sable water bottle, my vocal folds are not functioning within normal limits.
 
          My three roommates are so brave as they have all taken turns in ministering to me. Tetyanka cheerfully sanitized our room, did laundry, brought me food, and drove me on the golf cart to help me locate the Internet at camp to upload, The Camp Au Sable Store is so Much Pun video! Esther has been brave from day one because she has endured my sleep talking that wakes us both up at the craziest times. Esther used my favorite lotion and gave me a back massage that put me to sleep when I was feeling at my worst. Bethany has monitored my temperature and it has been a steady 98 degrees for the past three days. Bethany also has brought me most of my meals and just made this delicious blueberry, banana, spinach, orange, soymilk smoothie that has certainly soothed my throat!

Bethany is smoothing things over for me!

          Thank you God for sending me three beautiful angels from Southern Adventist University to take perfect care of me! I have been sick and they have cared for me, I have been hungry and they have fed me, I have been thirsty and they made me a smoothie! They are living what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 25. Surely these precious jewels have heard God's voice for their high calling. My prayer for each of you is that God will lavish His infinite love on you each moment and send holy angels to minister to you in the wonderful ways Tetyanka, Esther, and Bethany have so faithfully ministered to me!

 
          In His Joys,
 
          Hannah Elise Abbott

How God Rescued Me and Revived the Story!

          Two Sabbaths ago I was stationed as the group leader for the children's activity at Campfire Point. Our activity was called Treasure Discovery and it involved having the campers search for the hidden Bible promises that were under logs, pinecones, and tree branches. After each camper found a Bible verse to take hold of we gathered as a group and eager volunteers took turns coming up to the front to read the promise they had found.  

Campfire Point

          One of our Adventurer campers, Livi Constable, got really excited when she read Matthew 8:27 which says, "The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!" She told all of us that this was her favorite Bible verse and that she was so glad that God helped her to find this hidden treasure! While she was reading that powerful Bible text, the Holy Spirit brought to my mind one of the most treasured experiences I have had that actually involved Livi's Aunt Jesse. What I'm about to share with you is exactly what I shared with our campers right after Livi read that promise.

          When I was a little older than you guys, I went on a canoe trip with the youth group at my church down the Dowagiac River. It had just rained and the water level was much higher than it normally was. My parent's parting words to me was to always wear my life jacket, even when others around me decide to take theirs off. So, off I went down the river with Livi's Aunt Jesse and a friend that was my age. Our canoe took the lead as we stayed in front of everyone else. After awhile it started getting really hot and my friend took off her life jacket. As tempting as it was for me to take mine off, I obeyed my parents and kept it on.

          Eventually we came across a ginormous fallen tree that was blocking our path down the river. There were power lines near us and the current under the fallen tree was super strong. We thought that we could not fit ourselves and the canoe under such a tight space, so we decided to climb on top of the mossy tree trunk and slide the canoe under it and then climb back in once it was clear. All was swell until I slipped off of the slimy tree trunk, fell backwards into the fast water, and swallowed three gulps of polluted water! The current picked up speed as it separated me farther from our canoe. As soon as I came up from falling in the water, I looked up and saw Livi's Aunt Jesse pray as she said, "Jesus, help her!" The craziest thing happened next, I felt a force stronger than the current I was fighting against push me upstream back to our canoe. As soon as I grabbed hold of a tree branch, I felt the force that propelled me there let go as I held on tightly.

          Finally, a married couple's canoe caught up to ours. They made it safely under the fallen tree and then thought that it was time to save me. When the husband got out of their canoe, it flipped his wife along with all of their belongings. They both fell out closer to their canoe than the distance that I had fallen, yet both of them could not fight the current for anything. A tree branch got wedged into the man's tennis shoe and was beginning to drown him. It was scary to see him fight for his life and it was intense to see another friend dive down into the water to unhook his tennis shoe right before he went all the way under the water.

          I truly believe that my guardian angel pushed me upstream against that strong current until I reached the tree branches to take hold of. That place in the river was wide and there were no adults or other canoes in front of our canoe when I had fallen off of the tree trunk. There was no human there to rescue me and there was nothing left to take hold of except a miracle. Thankfully, when the husband and wife flipped out of their canoe, other adults had caught up to intervene when they needed help.

          It was indeed a God thing for Livi to find this hidden Bible treasure out at Campfire Point because it was her favorite text and because we got to dwell on the miraculous wonders that God has done! Livi's big sister Aly was my childhood best friend and it was their Aunt Jessica Rios who had prayed when I needed it most! Praise God that I didn't get sick from swallowing all that water, that my parents are so wise, for prayer warriors, for heavenly protection, and guardian angels! The kids each got a chocolate treasure at the end of our discovery and the sweet presence of childlike wonder was stirred in all of our hearts as the kids kept wanting to share the Bible promise they had found and what God has done for them.

Livi and I at the first rodeo/carnival of the summer!

          Remembering the powerful and astounding things that God has done strengthens our faith in Him and sharing testimonies with others brings a joy that only Jesus can give. I think all of Heaven was celebrating the Sabbath with us as Livi agreed to come up with me to tell the whole camp about our Treasure Discovery adventure that was just shared with you! Take hold of God's promises that have come to life through your own experiences and those around you. Write down the miracles He has done so that you will have them to come back to when you need to remember it most.

          Looking for more hidden treasures? The kids at Camp Au Sable will tell you that they are preciously packed into the Bible! Ready! Set! Discover!

How God's Amazing Agenda Unwinds

          Today is a Happy Sabbath at Camp Au Sable as the staff are preparing our hearts for Summer Camp ministry. My family started coming here for Pastor's Retreats, Family Camps, and Summer Camps when I was three years old. Learning how to canoe, being blobbed for the first time, and sleeping under the stars are moments I want to keep forever. Being at the boardwalk's dedication and fellow camper's baptisms were priceless.




Haystacks make us happy!

          Camp Au Sable was a place where I also was rightly disciplined by my loving parents and confronted on my choices by God-fearing adults. At one point my unbecoming teenage attitude from Camp Meeting carried on as my family went to Tween Camp, as my dad was the Pastor for the week. Instead of staying in the cabin with all of the other girls I was detained in the air conditioned Deer Lodge. My parents put a hair net on me and had me clean the silverware during meal times at the cafeteria. I am so thankful that I was held accountable for my actions and taught in the way in which I should go.

         Besides gleaning spiritual insights, seeing Bible stories come to life throughout the plays, and witnessing characters change and mold more like Christ's, my ultimate favorite place to be was at the Camp Store. Maybe it was Mrs. Baker's bubbly personality greeting me every time I walked in or the creative stationary waiting for me to write letters on, or perhaps it was because God placed a desire in my heart to someday serve right there in the store.
         
          I learned valuable life skills through working in the kitchen and keeping an eye out for the allergy list (I'm on it for fructose-intolerance) and spontaneously being on board with teaching the Vegan Cooking Class. I cannot stop praising God for placing me in the store starting my first staff summer during Family Camp. Miss Tammy Micheff and Mrs. Morgan have mentored me moment by moment as they seep sunshine all around me! I just love getting to see every single camper come in to get their favorite ice cream, snow cone, or camp souvenir. It touches my heart every time one of the kids tells me that they want to give some of their camp money towards, The Worthy Camper fund. I always look forward to praying with each cabin before we go inside together. It is fun to observe each counselor's "parenting" style from negotiating how many treats the campers can pick out to keeping them on their best behavior. There is usually a camper who did not bring money and their face lights up when their counselor chips in to save the day. There is always freshly popped popcorn ready for each camper to munch on.

Marcia Boothby taught me how to make Pizzazzy Fruit Pizza!

         Parents can buy their children gift bags that I make in the shed. I have enjoyed wrapping presents since I was little, even my parents let me wrap my own Christmas presents with my eyes closed! What I treasure so much about the gift bags is that it gives me time to pray for each of those campers as I put their name on their package.

          When I am not in the store I am soaking up time with my Cabin Family. I love going to morning and evening worships with them and sitting with them for meals. For one week at a time I get to know about seven to nine young girls as they share their pressing prayer requests, biggest dreams, hardest heartaches, and spiritual breakthroughs. It is awesome to see previous campers come back and come forward for the call for baptism and dedicate their lives to Jesus.

         A special camp scholarship is given from Seventh-Day Adventist colleges and Universities that match up to a certain percentage of Summer Camp earnings. Andrews University faithfully blessed me with that scholarship for two years. This is my third and final summer working at Camp Au Sable. This is because graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln starts in August and the Master's in Speech-Language Pathology lasts throughout the summers for two years. After praying about coming back and asking the Holy Spirit what to do, I enthusiastically agreed and wanted to be stationed at the store. Realizing that a public university would not give me a summer camp scholarship I trusted that God would take perfect care of me. Not too long ago I received two fellowship awards totaling in about the same amount that a summer camp ministry scholarship would have been! God had a grand plan that totaled in over a grand!

          We can never, ever, out-give God! When we show up to minister, Christ shines all of His blessings brighter than we are expecting! God is constantly coordinating to bombard you with blessings and His intense love for you will never stop! There is no good thing that our Heavenly Father wants to withhold from us. When God calls you to do something, do it with an irreplaceable joy as His amazing agenda unwinds.




Sabbath sunset around the boardwalk!

 

2 Corinthians 9:8 says, "And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

Crossing Over From Where You Are to Where God Wants You to be

Week of Prayer at Andrews University has turned into a week of praise because of how extraordinary the Holy Spirit has been moving. Monday morning came and I completely forgot that it was Week of Prayer! Classes start earlier than usual to make room for the daily gathering. Sprinting to my first class, I was wide-awake for an adventure I did not envision coming!

Pastor Rebecca Davis introduced the theme as Crossing Over from where you are to where God wants you to be. I thought that was a catchy theme because recently I have crossed over on an important decision that God has called me to make. As stunning as it is to comprehend, every night that Pastor Davis prayed for God to take us through a specific step of crossing over, God had already fulfilled that in my life the day before!

On Monday Pastor Davis talked about the importance of seeing life from God’s perspective and to listen to Him even when other people think we are crazy. That was completely relatable to me because God had recently revealed His perspective about a choice He was calling me to make. His peace that filled my heart completely over-rid comments of people who thought I was crazy for making my decision.

On Thursday night Pastor Davis talked about the idea of secrecy. She said how important it is to hold onto the big things that God has revealed to us for a little while longer and to prayerfully consider whom we share it with. This is because people often down play what God has revealed to you, which causes you to doubt what God told you. Her prayer that night was for God to show us who we could share the wonderful things He was calling us to do that would be able to see God’s perspective about it too. The night before her sermon God did set up a divine appointment of gathering two of my friends and me to share with each other our testimonies. God strategically placed us in each other’s paths and I was able to share with them what God had helped me cross over with and they agreed that God’s perspective was profoundly good.

On Friday night Pastor Davis talked about how God was going to mend relationships that we thought could never be mended. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I remembered that in the past week God had healed not one, but two friendships I thought had completely fallen through the cracks!

Students Crossing Over to Baptism and Where God Wants Them to be

Each night that Pastor Davis claimed what God was about to do in our lives, God had fulfilled that for me way in advance. Be encouraged and realize that God makes providential appointments to strengthen our faith. Hold on tight to what the Holy Spirit reveals to you because that is only the start of a Heavenly adventure. Keep looking at every circumstance from God’s perspective because crossing over from where you are to where God wants you to be is the most peaceful place ever.

I want to leave you with this: “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:7

In His Joys,

Hannah Elise Abbott