Welcome Back to The Sunday Sabbath: Embracing a Soft, Sacred, Slow Journey| The Sunday Sabbath #5
“And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” — Genesis 2:3
Dear Friend,
Welcome to the very first Sunday Sabbath newsletter from Soft Sacred Slow. If you’re new here (or if you’ve been with me through my recent pivot), I’m so grateful you’re joining me in this sacred space of rest and reflection. Be sure to check out my New Here? Start Here page and my updated About page, and Statement of Faith if you are interested.
Today feels significant. As I relaunch my Substack under this new vision, I want to share with you the heart behind Soft Sacred Slow and why this particular Sunday finds me filled with both peace and excitement.
The Meaning Behind Soft Sacred Slow
For years, I found myself caught in the tension between my creative calling and the relentless hustle culture that dominates our digital world. As both an author and ministry leader with AuDHD, I struggled to find frameworks that honored both my neurodivergence and my desire to create work that glorifies God.
Soft represents permission to embrace gentleness in our approach to creativity and ministry—to release the harsh expectations and striving that lead to burnout and instead lean into grace-filled productivity that honors our human limitations.
Sacred acknowledges that our creative work isn’t separate from our spiritual life—it’s an extension of it. When we see our writing, art, business, and platform as ministry, everything changes. Every word written, every product created, every post shared becomes an act of worship and service.
Slow gives us freedom to move at a sustainable pace that honors God’s design—both in creation and in our unique personalities. It’s about creating margin instead of maximizing every moment, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our work rather than rigid plans and timelines.
This isn’t just a brand or a catchy phrase for me—it’s become the foundation of my entire approach to life, ministry, and business.
Living Soft, Sacred, & Slow in My Own Life
I’ve been implementing these principles in tangible ways across every area of my life:
In our family life, we’ve created sacred margin in our calendar, deliberately leaving space for rest and spontaneity. We protect Sundays as our Sabbath day—a time for church, family connection, and complete freedom from productivity expectations. This weekly rhythm has brought such peace to our home.
In my writing schedule, I’ve built in flexibility that allows me to respond to the Holy Spirit’s leading, even when it means shifting from my original plan. Sometimes that looks like setting aside a planned project to work on something unexpected God has placed on my heart. Other times it means embracing a season of less output to focus on refilling my creative well.
In my ministry work, I’ve been more intentional about creating systems that honor my personality rather than fighting against it. This has meant embracing tools that work with my neurodivergent brain instead of trying to force myself into productivity methods that might work beautifully for others but create unnecessary struggle for me.
The result has been more peace, more joy, and—surprisingly—more fruitfulness than when I was constantly pushing myself to do more.
The Sacred Design Framework
One of the most transformative parts of my journey has been becoming a Certified Christian DISC Facilitator.
In 2018, I became a certified life coach, but I only took on a few clients because something felt missing. I longed for a more biblical foundation for my coaching and mentoring work—a framework that would help me (and those I serve) understand personality from a God-honoring perspective.
That’s what led me to Christian DISC. While many personality frameworks exist, I’ve found that DISC provides a beautifully simple yet profound way to understand how God has uniquely designed each of us. With just four primary personality types (D-Dominant, I-Influence, S-Steadiness, and C-Compliant), it gives us a clear framework for honoring our own design and understanding others.
What I love most about the Christian DISC approach is its solid biblical foundation. Rather than seeing our personality traits as random or merely psychological, it helps us recognize how different aspects of our temperament reflect God’s character and serve His purposes in the body of Christ.
This understanding has become the foundation of what I call the Sacred Design framework—my approach to helping Christian creatives align their ministry and creative systems with their God-given personality.
The Genesis Framework
Alongside Sacred Design, I’ve developed the Genesis Framework—a biblical approach to digital ministry based on the seven days of creation.
When I studied how God created the world, I realized He didn’t create through hustle or chaos. There was intention, order, purpose, and (crucially) rest built right into the design. This is the exact opposite of how many of us build our platforms and ministries—rushed, reactive, boundary-less, and rest-less.
The Genesis Framework organizes our approach to ministry into seven “garden spaces”—each representing a day of creation and addressing a specific aspect of building intentional, sustainable ministry:
The Light Garden (Day 1) - Where we explore vision, purpose, and clarity in our creative calling
The Waters Retreat (Day 2) - Where we nurture our inner lives and create healthy boundaries
The Fruitful Fields (Day 3) - Where ideas bear fruit and creativity becomes productive without depleting
The Luminaries Lookout (Day 4) - Where we learn to share our work with wisdom and intentionality
The Living Waters (Day 5) - Where we build community and foster meaningful connections
The Stewardship Sanctuary (Day 6) - Where we learn to manage our creative gifts with wisdom
The Sabbath Grove (Day 7) - Where we embrace rest as essential to creativity
This very newsletter is part of The Sabbath Grove—our weekly gathering place to rest, reflect, and celebrate God’s work in and through us.
The Story Sanctuary
Welcome to The Story Sanctuary! This is where I share all things books - my latest releases, stories I’m loving, and recommendations from fellow authors whose work inspires me. Think of this as our cozy corner where stories and Sabbath rest intersect, and reading is always an act of soul care.
This week, I’m excited to share something special with you: The Salty Pages Collection - 10 complete stories spanning 10 different genres, all absolutely free.
If you’ve been following along here on Substack, you may have already read these stories in the archives. But I wanted to bundle them into a single ebook for easy reading, so you can experience all 10 tales in one place - from sweet romance to cozy mystery, historical fiction to urban fantasy, and everything in between.
Each story features diverse characters and is set against the backdrop of Charleston’s beautiful Lowcountry. And they’re all clean fiction with messages that matter - stories that entertain without compromise.
Whether you’re looking for a quick escape during your Sabbath rest or you want to discover which of my genres speaks to your heart, this collection is my gift to you.
Grab your free copy of The Salty Pages Collection here.
A Thank You and An Invitation
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your patience during this season of pivot and refinement. Transitions aren’t always smooth, but knowing you’re along for the journey means more than I can express.
As part of embracing the Soft Sacred Slow principles in my own ministry, I’ve made an important decision: all content on Soft Sacred Slow will be free and available to everyone. I believe these biblical frameworks should be accessible to every creative who needs them, regardless of financial circumstances.
If you’ve been blessed by this ministry and would like to support this work, I invite you to join The Cultivator’s Circle ($7/month), which helps make this content freely available to everyone while sustaining the ongoing work of this ministry.
For those who prefer to contribute differently, there’s also an option for one-time donations.
As we move forward together in this Soft Sacred Slow approach to creativity and ministry, I’d love to invite you to explore a few resources I’ve created to support your journey.
First, I’ve launched a new shop where you can find signed copies of my books along with other resources designed to help you embrace a more intentional approach to your creative calling.
For those interested in understanding your personality more deeply, I offer the Christian DISC Assessment, which provides comprehensive insights into your unique blend of all four personality types and biblical perspectives on your design. These insights can help you better implement the Soft, Sacred, Slow principles in ways that honor your unique personality and God-given design.
Whether you choose to explore these offerings or simply continue joining me here, please know that I’m honored to walk alongside you in this sacred journey.
In addition to The Sunday Sabbath newsletter, I’ll be sharing a long-form post on Wednesdays that will be emailed to subscribers. I may occasionally write additional articles when I feel led by the Holy Spirit to do so, but to prevent overwhelming your inbox, I’ll simply link to these in The Sunday Sabbath.
Thank you again for journeying along with me. May you find moments of soft, sacred slowness in your week ahead.
With grace and joy,
Antonisha
Connect & Support
🌱 Join Our Community: Subscribe to receive The Sunday Sabbath newsletter and follow along on this soft, sacred, slow journey.
🤍 Support This Ministry:
Monthly Support: Join the Cultivator’s Circle to sustain this digital ministry with a monthly contribution.
One-Time Gift: Prefer a one-time donation? You can nurture this garden with a single contribution.
📚 Explore Resources: Discover books, assessments, and resources to support your creative journey in the Salty Page Books shop.
💬 Share Your Thoughts: I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments below.