Really I have given this topic very little thought, I figured I had it nailed, until my Stake President’s talk. He suggested that we could do more to make the Sabbath a spiritual day; he suggested that we get to church not only on time, but early so we could settle in and feel the spirit; he also suggested that we have a family prayer before leaving. I thought that was interesting, a family prayer before going to church meetings.
Then the other day I read a blog post by a Jewish woman who talked about what they do for their Sabbath Day observance. It took her the better part of Friday to prepare for sun set and their Sabbath to start. She prepared special foods and they have special prayers and even special clothing, all for Sabbath.
Now, I am not thinking of converting to Judaism. I happen to really, really believe in my religion, but it got me to wondering about my Sabbath Day observance.
Is Sunday just a different day, or do I make it a special day? Honestly I think I just tolerate it.
Here is my typical Sunday. I get up about 6:30, that is when my husband leaves for his meetings, and I hurry to do my hair and make-up. I wake the kids and give them a quick bowl of cereal and turn on the TV. I get the kids dressed, and iron a few items, the older ones can dress themselves, but I need to be on them so they get it done. One, by one I call the girls in so I can do their hair. Mike usually gets home about 8:00 and while I am finishing up a couple of hair-dos and getting myself dressed he will dress the baby. At about 8:30, when our meetings have started we are rushing out the door, while I am yelling at the 9 year old punk to go get her shoes on for the 10 bazillionth time I am frantically putting together a bag and we are running out the door. We arrive harried, breathless and sleepy to church, sneak in the back and feel proud of ourselves if we make it before the Sacrament. I brave church, half listen; half juggle children and sleepy baby and watching the clock wanting to go home. When church is over I make a quick lunch for the kids, change clothes, put babies and little kids to bed and send the big kids to play in their room while I take a long nap. Husband goes back to church to meetings. We have a big Sunday dinner (I do like this part, I love to cook) hurry kids off to bed and sit on couch watching TV until bed time.
No where in that day did I stop and worship the Lord.
That day was different from my typical day, but there was nothing special about it.
I haven’t quite decided what I am going to do to change how we spend our Sabbath Day. A little more preparation on Saturday would help. Going to bed earlier and getting up earlier on Sunday would help. I do think I am going to try the family prayer thing before we all go to church.
What do you guys do to make your Sabbath Day special?
I don’t do anything special either. We started a while back making sure on Saturday that all the clothes are ready for Sunday. I also want to make sure and visit someone in the ward every Sunday. Of course we’ll see if that actually happens. We also sometimes try to let the kids watch a show like Legacy or even The Other Side of Heaven instead of the usual stuff. (I’m just not sure I’m ready to completely let go of the tv!)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You brought up some really great points. I know there are areas that I need to improve on and your post was a good reminder.
After my mission I knew life would be different, but I wanted to keep the spirit and the habits I had formed as much as possible. I decided that Sundays I would try to live a lot of the rules and guidelines that I did on my mission to invite the spirit. For example, get up early, study the scriptures, no TV, only listen to church music, wear my church clotes all day, etc. I’m not perfect at it and definitely have areas to improve, but I really think it makes a difference when I make an honest effort to do those things.
Sundays are such a hard day for us, I feel like we are lucky to just make it to church, and to get there early??? As far as doing anything special Mat and I usually get in a fight if that counts as special?!? They are long hard days and I guess I need to work hard to make them a special day of thanks and gratitude to our Heavenly Father. I will work on this, thanks for the reminder! Luv ya!
It seems like no matter what time our church starts we are always late even if it’s at 1:00 in the afternoon. I definately have some of the same struggles as you. We usually visit family on Sundays and my hubby’s family is REALLY good about NO TV and trying to keep uplifting topics going. So at least we always end on a good note. My favorite part about Sunday is the music. I try to keep religious music going all day.
Thanks for the reminder and thoughts…having heard the same talk you referred to, I’ve given this topic some thought. We’ve tried to incorporate some new ideas with some success. It’s always a challenge to get there on time (I may have the same # of kids, but not nearly the hair fuss!), but because the Deacons have to be there early to do chairs, we’re early too! Or at least right behind the boys, which means mostly on time! I have the kids do one activity in the afternoon that is more reverent…they pick from writing in their journals, writing a letter (or drawing a picture) to send to a family member, or scripture study. I also really like family prayer before rushing out the door. It just puts me in a better place!