Hello Everyone,
We are in the first few days of January on the Gregorian calendar. We have made it through the holiday season, and into a new year. If you have been following us in the last year, you probably know that we are a little bit of an enigma. We believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as our Savior, and we follow His Word but do not follow the typical calendar. We follow the Biblical calendar that you find in Leviticus. If you are not familiar with this calendar here is a brief overview.
We honor the Shabbat and rest every Saturday. We don’t celebrate the “normal” holidays Easter, Christmas, etc. Instead, we honor the 7 Feasts… Passover, Shavuot, Feast of Tabernacles, etc.
As we have learned more about this calendar and God’s Word there are other things that we have changed as well. Recently one of those things is when we celebrate the new year.
According to Exodus 12:1:2
Now Adonai spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, “This month will mark the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you.
The month Adonai is talking about here is the month of Nisan. It falls around March/April on the Gregorian Calendar. So according to God’s Word, the new year happens in the Spring, and it corresponds with Passover. Passover is when Yeshua died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected. Demonstrating the true meaning of new life because it was through His sacrifice that we can genuinely experience renewal.
The Reason We Bring This Up
This is the time of year when everyone is trying to reinvent themselves, NEW YEAR, NEW ME. People are talking about all the changes they are going to make and how this year is going to be better than last year. The issue is typically all the big changes that are going to be made don’t happen. The resolutions that are made on January 1st are typically non-existent by March 1st. I know I have definitely been guilty of this many times. But there is a reason for that and it’s not laziness, but we will get to that in a moment.
If you follow other marriage ministries, they are probably giving you ways to transform your marriage in this new year. We have done that in the past but that is not what we are doing this year. We are going to give you a little history on why January 1st was chosen as the new year, why winter is not the time to reinvent yourselves, and three very simple things you can do during this season that will benefit you physically, emotionally, and relationally.
If you are looking for ways to follow the typical culture and totally reinvent yourself and your marriage in January this isn’t what you are looking for but if you are feeling burnout, unmotivated, and totally depleted, and your marriage may be struggling because of it, this is the one for you.
If Adonai says the New Year is in the Spring, where did January 1st Come From?
The idea of celebrating the new year started with the Babylonians, it was when they would hold their Akitu festival and make promises to their gods. They did this in the Spring and had traditions that you can still see in our culture now.
Babylonian kings would publicly vow to be just rulers, reflecting a commitment to their people and divine order. They believe fulfillment of their promises would ensure divine favor, a sentiment that resonates with the modern desire for self-improvement and renewal in the new year. This is where the new year resolutions originate.
This practice evolved over time and was adopted by the Romans. They originally celebrated on March 1st but then switched to January 1st
January 1 was chosen by the Romans to honor Janus, one of their gods. It was a season of taxes, transitions, and government control. It was a time of renewing contracts and collecting debt. For all you history people out there the change happened around 153 BCE but Julius Caesar was the one that actually solidified it in 46 BCE when he introduced the Julian Calendar.
Why is Winter Not the Time to Reinvent Yourself?
So, you can see from this brief history that other cultures originally celebrated the new year in the spring but later changed it to winter in order to honor their gods. That alone would be a very good reason to reevaluate celebrating during this time but there are ALOT of other reasons why celebrating the new year and trying to change all the things is not a good idea in the winter.
The middle of winter is actually the worst time to “reinvent yourself” or to overhaul your entire routine and lifestyle. Why? There is literally very little light, warmth, and energy. All the things that make growth and change possible.
Winter is Not a Season to Bloom and be Productive.
Look at the entire planet during winter. Everything goes into a dormant mode. Even the sun and moon adjust their cycle during the winter months. We are the only ones that keep pushing. Even though everything in our biology slows down by design. We will get into that a little more in a minute.
We have been conditioned by culture to believe that we must transform every January. NEW YEAR NEW ME! Can changes happen now? Sure, but biologically, energetically, and seasonally, winter has never been a time for new beginnings. Winter is for slowing down, storing energy, resting in general, reflecting, and integrating.
If you are feeling tired, unmotivated, or uninspired, it’s not a discipline issue. You are not a failure or lazy. It’s your biology working correctly. Your body has actually been trying to fall into these natural rhythms.
We actually had this verified medically a few months back.
Our general practitioner talked to us about seasonal rhythms. He explained how there was originally times of plenty and times of scarcity; however, now we don’t experience scarcity anymore. We have access to all foods at all times. So, during times where we shouldn’t have access to things because it’s the wrong season, we still can ger it.
He also spoke on resting periodically. We were not meant to constantly go.
If we look to creation, we see a message forming. Winter is not meant to be fast, loud, and productive, it was meant to be quieter, slower, and less demanding. When you treat summer like winter you will burnout.
Perhaps this is why we are more prone to get sick. Maybe it isn’t flu season. Maybe it’s burnout season. We are forcing our bodies to perform when they are supposed to be allowed to rest.
In Nature Nothing Survives Winter by Pretending it’s Summer.
Winter has a purpose in the YHWH plan, but it is not to be another summer. It’s a time of rest and healing. A time to stop striving and trying to be a completely new and different person. It is a time to be a human being not a human doing.
Scripture backs up this seasonal layout.
For everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven a time to give birth and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal, time to tear down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to discard; a time to tear apart and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
While all the days of the land remain, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not cease.” Genesis 8:22
Biblically, Adonai designed time with rhythm (and our temples correspond to this) and winter is not a season of striving, building, or proving.
Spring is for starting and renewing. This is the case for all creation, we as humans have been disconnected from these rhythms.
Let’s Dive a little Deeper Biblically
Creation and our Physiological
The Biblical rhythm was woven into its creation and then was to be mirrored in our bodies (temples)
We serve a God of order. If you look into the Bible, you will see this theme of order EVERYWHERE! But let’s look specifically at the temple.
God was very specific with His temple. He gave very details instructions on… how to build it, what the priest wore and what their jobs were, and how the sacrifices were done.
Our bodies are likened to the temple. We see this in…
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Ruach ha-Kodesh who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.
So if God’s physical temple had order. Our temples need order as well.
Look at the order around you in this winter season.
- Trees don’t force fruit in the winter
- Fields don’t produce harvest year round
- The earth itself rest
Our bodies mirror this order
- As daylight decreases our nervous system naturally shifts
- Less outward push
- More introspection
- Greater need for rest and regulation
By design all creation rests and trusts the Creator. Spring is always promised.
The truth is there are a lot of people feeling this way right now. I (Tara) have definitely felt it this winter as well. I have told Alex multiple times in the last several weeks that I am unmotivated and just feel blah.
We are walking through this in real time. This has been just as much for us, and it has been for y’all. The good news is as the Lord has revealed this to us, He has also given us ways to navigate this season.
Psalms 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations. I am exalted in the earth.”
Be Still- Harpu- (Root Raphah) means to let go, release control, cease strive, release grip, to drop the clench fist. It is relational surrender, not inactivity. It is a sign of deep trust
Summer level productivity in the winter causes…
- The nervous system to stay in a constant state of stress
- Burnout to increase
- Spiritual sensitivity to dull
- Emotional instability
Stillness is the posture that allows…
- The body begins to heal
- The nervous system to regulate
- The soul gets quiet and more receptive
This Hebraic idea of stillness replaces productivity with a space for restoration. This still is not inactivity. It isn’t passive. It is all about intentionality. Intentionally allows time to rest and heal.
Instead of New Year, New Me and Making a Ton of New Year Resolutions let’s look at 3 Ways You can Embrace the Idea of the Hebrew Word Harpu!
- Get out in the sun at least 2 minutes every day. It will be more beneficial if it’s morning light.
- Lack of sun drops your serotonin levels (which regulate mood, and motivation) and gets your circadian rhythm off (which regulates sleep, alertness, hormones, and energy), these moments in the sun will help regulate both of these.
- Rest and recharge, do not try to reinvent
- Take this season to find ways to rest and allow your body to do what it needs to do. God knew His creation as a whole needed rest so much that it’s a part of the creation story! He created Shabbat, made it holy, and honors it Himself.
- Get into the Word and obey it
- Use this time to get into the Word for yourselves. Do not solely rely on what someone else tells you it says. Secondhand knowledge will never be as beneficial or as transformative as first-hand knowledge. The Word has the ability to transform us but only if we get into it ourselves.
What Does this Have to do with Marriage?
Everything!
You and your spouse are both experiencing these seasonal events together. If you both are pushing through winter like it is summer, you are probably seeing the effects of it. The lack of motivation, the change in mood, the lack of energy, it all has an effect on your marriage in so many different ways. You may not even have words to describe what is happening and we hope that this gives you some verbiage. It definitely has with us.
Now that you know what could be contributing to some of the issues you can work together as a team to change things. All three tips above can be done as a couple.
Not only will you be regulating your body and getting into God’s natural flow and order, but you will be doing it together.