Deep Breathing for the Soul

Good morning readers!

As a gift to say thank you for reading my blog,  my publisher is giving away a free chapter from Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity. Just click here to go to my product page on the Zondervan website. You’ll see a picture of the cover on the left side of the page, and below it, there is a button that says “Read Sample.”  From there,  you’ll be able to download a PDF file of the chapter.

Also, don’t forget to visit Karen Robbins blog today to read a review and another chance to win a free book.

And if you are in the Chicago area, we have several events planned for the next two weeks. This Friday, we’ll be at Regular Joe coffee house on Algonquin Road in Hoffman Estates, at 7 p.m. And next Wednesday, Jan. 14, we are having a very fun event at Spa Avalon in Deer Park (at Rand and Long Grove Road) with food, drinks, samples of spa treatments, and more. I’ll be giving a talk on simplicity and signing books. The event is from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Hope to see you there!!

I’ve had a couple of questions today about my blog tour. Just to clarify, in case you are wondering what a blog tour is, or where it is, here’s the scoop:

A blog tour means that various bloggers are “hosting” me as a guest on their site. They run an interview, photos, and/or reviews. To participate as a blogger, you let me know if you want to, and I’d send you stuff to post on your blog.
If you are not a blogger, you can just vist the blogs that are on the “tour” and leave a comment about how much you loved the book. Each blog is giving away a free copy of the book to one lucky reader who leaves a comment.
It’s a different blog, sometimes two, each day. The links to the blogs will be on my facebook page, and on my blog. tomorrow, Jan. 6, the tour takes us to blogger Karen Robbins. visit her site and leave a comment or question. 

I hope that makes sense! Also, if you want to listen to a radio interview about REST, you can go for the next few days to www.kneo.org, and click on “author’s corner” —then find my name and click on the earphones to listen. It’s actually a download, so I had to open my iTunes program to listen to it. Or, tomorrow, I will be on live at 9 a.m. CST, on radio station WDJC in Birmingham, AL. You can listen online at their website.

Tags: blog, blog tour, Keri Wyatt Kent, radio, rest, sabbath simplicity

Good morning! The kids went back to school today, and man, it feels good to get back into a routine. It was nice to be able to sleep in for two weeks but I am more productive in the morning and glad to be working by 7:15.

I think I like Mondays because I’ve rested on Sunday. So I’m ready to get back at things. It’s ironic: you’d think that taking a day off would put you behind on your to-do list. But it doesn’t. Like getting a good night’s sleep, taking a day to rest makes me that much more productive on Monday.

The Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity blog tour officially begins today. Please support these bloggers who are supporting me by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment. You might even win a free book.

Today’s bloggers are Monica Synder, who posts at Everyday Simple Abundance;  and Kathi Macias, at

I hope you’ll visit their blogs today.

Here’s our question of the day: Mondays–love ‘em or hate ‘em? Discuss.

Tags: blog tour, monday, rest, sabbath, sabbath simplicity, sunday

I’m posting today at Gifted for Leadership, a blog for Christian women leaders, published by Christianity Today. Please visit and leave a comment!

You can read my column, ”the Rested Leader,” here.

Tags: leadership, rest, women

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. They tend to be too vague. You know, “Get in shape” or “Lose weight” or “be more spiritual.”

I do believe, however, in setting goals. Goals are more specific, espcially if you break them down into small steps. I have financial goals for my writing and speaking business. I have goals for my writing (a specific number of words written per day).

My goal this year is to take this blog to the next level–to make it a community of people who are desiring to grow closer to God. As one of my mentors used to say, what we have in common is our desire for God, and our willingness to pray for one another in that desire.

To do that, I’m going to need your help. I’ll promise to write thought provoking posts about connecting faith and real life. I’ll try to share thoughts on my own process of spiritual formation, and ask about yours. I’d like you to participate. leave comments, ask questions. Then, tell others about this blog. Send an e-mail to a few friends about it, with the link. My goal is to minister to my readers, to encourage all of us to grow spiritually, and facilitate community where we can all minister to each other.

Today is the first day of the Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity blog tour. I hope you’ll invite friends to visit the blogs with you, so they can learn about this book. Blogger Monica Snyder’s posted this great review last week, and she’ll have more on her blog on Monday. Be sure to check it out.

The tour schedule is on my website. You can get their directly by clicking here. Or just go to www.SabbathSimplicity.com and click on the tab for “Rest” and you can learn all about various events that are going on to launch this book.

Okay, I’ve shared my goal. What goals are you setting for 2009? Leave a comment below to tell us.

Tags: goals, growth, rest, sabbath simplicity, spiritual formation

Reader Renee has posted this review on her blog. Renee grew up in a church that was very legalistic about Sabbath. I love that she found the opposite approach–freedom–as she read Rest.

Our blog tour starts January 2. We should have the schedule posted soon. We’re giving away free books–one at each blog!

And starting January 9, we’ll be hosting several Rest events. Most in the Chicago area, but one in Pennsylvania. If you’re in the area, I hope to meet you at one!

Just a reminder–if you were one of the readers who received a copy of the galleys for Rest, you need to post your review ASAP.

About 50 of you got a pre-publication copy, because you had promised to write a review on-line. Those who post reviews will receive a free copy of the book–but you need to get that review posted (and let me know about it!) by January 1. If you’ve posted a review on ChristianBook.com, you can now copy and paste that review onto amazon.com as well. If you need inspiration for reviews, take a look at these on amazon or these on Christianbook.

Also, if you live in southwest Missouri (or nearby in Arkansas, Oklahoma or Kansas, you can tune in at 1 p.m. today at 91.7 FM to hear my interview on their show Author’s Corner. If you’re not in their listening area, you can catch it on www.kneo.org at 1 p.m., or anytime during the next week, as it will be archived.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Tags: rest, sabbath

I received a question from a reader named Valerie today, and thought some of you might be wondering the same thing. She wrote:
I learned about your book “Rest” through DearReader.com, so I get to read a
little bit from the beginning all this week. I am wondering why you didn’t try a
Saturday sabbath since God set the seventh day apart and not the first day. (My
husband and I are also making a point of following the ever-ignored commandment
to obey the Sabbath, but we’re doing it on Saturday like He says to.) I’m just
curious! And thanks for your time! We’re looking forward to getting the book
when it is released.

 I really appreciated Valerie’s question, and she’s not the first to ask it. The Bible says that the Sabbath should be on “the seventh day.” It never says “Saturday.” Why? because the calendar we use today was not even invented when God first instituted the Sabbath. I go into much more depth on this in my book, explaining how various calendars in the ancient world eventually evolved into the one we use today. and in fact, Saturday was at one time the first day of the week.

I choose to celebrate Sabbath as a Christian on Sunday because I see it as a commemoration of Christ’s resurrection, which happened on the first day of the week (again, admittedly, under a different calendar than we use now.)
It’s easy to focus on the question of “which day” but ignore the question of “why?” If you don’t practice Sabbath at all, in fact, live at a crazy pace, which would you say would be your first step toward discovering all the joys of Sabbath: 1. having to do it on a certain day or 2. admitting that the pace of your life is spiritually damaging, and that you need to rest. I really think Sabbath, at first, is not an all-or-nothing proposition. It’s a journey.

One of the points of my book is that Sabbath is a gift. I think Jesus set us free from legalism. As far as “doing what God says,” God also said that on Sabbath, you should not light a fire. Do you use electricity, cook or drive a car on Sabbath? Those can technically be considered “lighting a fire.” (and are by many orthodox Jews). Many people I know choose to keep certain aspects of the Old Testament Sabbath, but ignore others. We have a lot of freedom to do just that.

I’m going to be answering questions about Rest in two radio interviews this week. The first is this afternoon on Moody radio’s “Prime Time Chicago” show. You can listen it at www.wmbi.fm, or at 90.1 FM in Chicago.

Tomorrow (Wed.) you can listen to an interview on the Author’s Corner show on KNEO in Missouri. It will be broadcast at 1 p.m. CST on www.kneo.org, and archived for the rest of the week.

Tags: questions, rest, sabbath, sabbath simplicity, which day

I hope you’ll check out one of my favorite blogs, Everyday Simple Abundance. Today, it happens to have a review of my book Rest on it. It will also be the first blog on the Rest blog tour starting January 5.

This is your last week to sign up for the blog tour. If you have a blog, and would like to be a part of the tour (and offer your readers a chance to win a copy of the book) then leave a comment on this post.

Tags: books, rest, sabbath

The television newscasters warned this morning, “Don’t go out unless you absolutely have to, the roads are treacherous.” Freezing rain had turned interstate highways into ice rinks, closing many of them.

            After sitting inside drinking coffee for too long, I bundled up and took the dog for a long walk. The rain had stopped. I skidded along icy sidewalks to the park, where the dog and I were alone under a grey sky. The snow on the unplowed path had been tramped down by other hikers, making it easier to navigate than the deep snow or the slick sidewalks.

            I love Christmas, and gatherings of friends and family that go with it. People talk about “love languages,” and I don’t know if mine is on the list: I show love by cooking—not just at Christmas. But the past week included three large rather elaborate dinners, and the planning, shopping and preparation that entails. I enjoyed giving to family and friends in this way, but I’m ready for a break.

            I cook to show love to others, but when I need to show love to myself, I get alone, preferably outside. Last week, we had temperatures in the single digits, and even the dog didn’t really want to go out. I spent several days in my pajamas. So this morning’s 34 degrees felt very comfortable, especially as I jogged along the snowy path. After several days of cooking (and eating), I was glad to get some exercise. But mostly I simply basked in the quiet. I stood and enjoyed beauty of the snow covered lake. I talked to Jesus, thanked him for the blessings of our simple Christmas. I brought some concerns to him, tried to leave them in his hands. I found myself settling down. As often happens when I spend time in solitude, I felt simultaneously calmed and energized.

            For many of us, Christmas is a time when we give to others, do for others. It can be stressful. This next week often provides a lull in our schedules. Take advantage of that—and take some time for yourself. What feeds your soul? Do you even know? Try taking some time for solitude, for settling down. Take some time to be quiet, to pray. It’s a gift you can only receive if you are brave enough to give it.