C.S. Elston

Worshipper, Husband, Author, Screenwriter, Home Cook, Fan

Summer Sabbath

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I know the first official day of summer is still a couple of weeks away but, my niece (who’s in college) has been on summer break for weeks, my nephews are experiencing their first day of their break while I’m writing this and, my wife (a first-grade teacher) starts her break in just one week. Technically, I don’t get a summer break in the way that everyone I’ve mentioned does but, summer has been on my mind a lot lately.

A thought that I had never had until recently, and now suddenly can’t let go of, is the idea of summer as a Sabbath season. The two are already similar in the sense that they are meant for rest. Not necessarily rest in the sense of lying down and taking a nap but, rest in the sense of relaxation, connection and renewal.

This was true when we were kids and we finished a grade level and then took about three months off before starting the next one. As adults, we already tend to fill our summers with trips, family barbecues and sticking our hands in the dirt to do some gardening or landscaping. So, why not embrace what is already right there in front of us?

When I think about the Sabbath, which I celebrate on Sundays, I think about church and spending time with family. God rested on the seventh day and so should we. But, what if we took this summer and treated it like an extended Sabbath? Obviously, most of us can’t get out of going to work. That’s out of the question. But, we can intentionally slow down. We can strive to make it a season of connecting with family and friends, growing closer to the Lord, and recharging our proverbial batteries.

When autumn rolls around, we may feel more prepared to tackle the rest of life than we have in years. Or, we could decide that a reasonable amount of Sabbath should be part of our lives seven days a week and three hundred sixty-five days a year. Either way, I, for one, am going to give it a shot.

When I Knew I wanted To Write Fiction

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I recently did a Twitter #MounceChat interview and a participant, Racheal Colby, suggested that I turn some of the questions and answers into blog posts. I’m taking her advice and thought, why not start with the very first question which was “When did you decide you wanted to be a fiction author?” So, following her advice, here was my response:

I was a very imaginative child. Whether I was playing with matchbox cars or out in the woods with friends (or, even alone) I was always creating plot. I didn’t know what it was called back then. But, that’s exactly what I was doing. One of those plots, I later thought about turning into a screenplay. Then Pixar made Cars and I decided that I didn’t want to look like a copycat.

As soon as I began to learn how to read, I started writing stories down. I was also an athletic kid so, if the weather permitted, I was outside throwing or kicking a ball. But, growing up in the suburbs of Seattle, a lot of days were rainy. On those days, I was inside writing. I tried to get my friends to write with me. They accommodated me at times but, for the most part, I was the only one truly interested. While I thought of myself as one of the neighborhood jocks, I suppose I was also one of the neighborhood nerds.

All that to say, I think I always wanted to write fiction. Even before I knew what that truly meant. I said I was going to be an author from the time I was a little boy. I took a detour when I fell in love with movies and became a screenwriter. But, then I met Andrea (now my wife) and decided to move back to my hometown and write my first novel. Three books later, that’s now what I’m doing full-time and I’d be happy if I never did anything else.