Church Spire
Sunday shouldn't feel like a day of duty, but a day when we can joyfully worship, relax and live at a slower pace. It's good for our bodies and minds to have a day of rest.
The most stressful part of Sundays for us is trying to get everyone fed, dressed and out the door on time. I've noticed that the more I plan ahead, the smoother it goes. Isn't that always the case? :) If we lay out everyone's clothes on Saturday night and I have Sunday's meals planned ahead we have less chaos as we try to get out the door to church. I like to do some sort of special breakfast on Sunday morning, but it needs to be something I can make up the night before to pop in the oven in the morning or something that is quick and easy. There's no point in stressing out all morning and fussing at everyone because I'm getting breakfast ready and trying to get the dishes washed before we leave the house. I'm pretty sure they would rather have cold cereal than a grumpy mama. I've also given myself permission not to do laundry and housework on Sunday (even though that means Mondays are catch up days). If my in-laws stop by on Sunday afternoon (which they often do) and there are unwashed dishes in the sink, I'm sure they'll get over it. :)
I've also found that it's essential for me to get up on time. I set my alarm and try to get myself totally dressed and ready to go and have breakfast ready before I wake up the kids. If I oversleep (it's always a temptation for me to hit snooze one too many times) then things just don't go as smoothly.
We try to keep Sunday afternoons relaxing by turning the TV off (doesn't always happen during football season :)) so we can play games, take walks or just goof off. Having a little unstructured time is good for all of us.
How do you make Sunday special and a day of rest at your house?
14 comments:
This blog is so cute, love it!!
This has been something we (my family and me) have been working on recently. Growing up in the LDS church, doing things to keep the Sabbath Day holy are mostly habit by now. For instance, we don't do any shopping on Sunday. We don't do any laundry or heavy cleaning. Recently I have been implementing some more things- like turning off the computer all day, and the t.v. (except for gospel-related programs). I love Sundays, it is great to have a day to rest from all of our labors.
Well, my hubby is a pastor so Sunday is a work day for him. But we do love to fellowship with families after church on Sunday.
Sometimes we go somewhere cheap (like Mcdonalds), sometimes we go to someone's house (or ours). Of course, sometimes we don't go anywhere and just enjoy a nice relaxing afternoon. It just depends.
I try to get up early because if I'm running late it's just stressful, you know?
Definitely a good idea. I need to put this into work this sunday.
It's funny. A friend and I were just talking about this the other day. We both used to be really good about taking a day of rest until we became professors. We were commenting that neither one of us are professors (well, I have two more weeks of being one, but it's been part time since January), so we both have a lot more control over how we spend our time.
My friend and I agreed that we would be more diligent in having a day of rest. I mean, if G*d needed a rest, imagine what us mere mortals need!
Thanks for a great post.
Sundays are pretty hectic in general, because of my husband being the pastor. However, I do a few things to try and make our getting up and out the door more pleasant. We stick to cereal on Sunday morning and I don't worry about doing the breakfast dishes. Having the clothes laid out the night before helps. Now that my children are older they are all self-managed which makes my life A LOT easier!
Bettry Crocker Breakfast Bakes (recipes are on the website) or any kind of breakfast casseroles that can be made ahead and stuck in the fridge the night before are really good and I love my crockpot for Sunday dinners.
Thanks for letting us know we aren't the only Christians left in this country afterall.
Nancy
We love Sundays at our house! other than going to church we have a very restful day, reading, playing with the children and if we're lucky we get to squeeze in a nap. I try to prepare most of my food ahead of time so as not to take away from my "free time"
I LOVE Sundays and recently read Keri Wyatt Kent's book called Rest. It is all about Sabbath Simplicity and I found it such a life changing read. So now, Sundays are usually quite, peaceful and restful...beautiful times of worship and family togetherness.
Very wisely said!
Mom really has to sacrifice (cheerfully of course :) to get this day to be what it should be.
We just can't be slackers when it comes to getting everyone ready...although I think it's good to talk it over with hubby so that at some point we get a rest too!
I'm glad you wrote about this!
Years ago there was a book by Karen Burton Mains called Making Sunday Special. She gave a lot of advice about ways to prepare for Sundays ahead of time.
I remember another author who used to purchase a couple coffee cakes for Sunday breakfast each week. Her kids weren't allowed them at any other time so they looked forward to them and she didn't have to cook.
Great post! Laying out clothes Saturday night is one of the biggest things I do to help Sunday morning run more smoothly. Otherwise, we invariably end up searching for shoes for 30 minutes.
I have been working on this too...not just on Sundays. We will have hectic mornings and I realized I wasn't doing MY job the night before to make me happy not psycho....:-)
I definitely need to work on this. Mornings of church days as so chaotic! We usually eat granola bars of something on the way. No matter how much we try we just do not get organized (and I alwyas have so much stuff to carry out the door with me..my teaching supplies, food pantry donations, bible, etc)
One thing I really SHOULD do is toss something in the crockpot that can be ready for us to eat when we get back. It is so tempting to go out to eat. I try not to do any work or make any plans on Sundays. It's just for us.
:)
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