Sep. 12, 2009 - Preparing for Sunday

Sunday – it can be a day of rest, or it can be a day of stress.  Here are some of the changes I’ve made to help Sunday be a true day of rest, even though we may be ‘busy’ with people.

• We used to clean house on Monday – I thought this was necessary, to clean up after a day of rest.  But now we clean up in preparation for Sunday on Saturday, and all we do on Monday is put a few extra things away. 

• Prepare Clothes – this means clothes need to be chosen, and ironed.  Shoes need to be found (how they get lost one week to the next I don’t know!) and bags need to be ready.  My goal is for each of the children to be responsible for their own clothes.  Daniel is quite ready for this so Jessica helps him, and Nomi helps me with Peter’s clothes.

• Plan for Food
  • Breakfast – we generally have a traditional cooked breakfast before Church.  Pete does half on the BBQ and I do the other half inside.  I need to ensure we have the right food.
  • Plan for Sunday lunch – if we are just our family then lunch is usually left overs or something that each person can help themselves to.  If we have guests for lunch then we usually have a cheese and veggie platter so I make sure I know what is in my pantry and what I may need to grab from the store before coming home from Church
  • I try to have a pot of soup in the fridge for Sunday night.  If we have a homecooked meal then we tend to sit around the table, if we grab something from the pantry dinner time tends to be in front of the news or DVD.  Though we do this Friday or Saturday to do it on Sunday disrupts a good start to the week so I do all that I can to have a meal prepared ahead of time.

• My friend, who has younger children, also gets her nappy bag, or Mummy Bag, ready on Saturday, often already in the car.

• We also check Church rosters so we have no Sunday morning surprises.

Probably the biggest change has come from within.   If Sunday is to be a day of rest – I need to make it so.  This means I need to prepare as much as I can but then I need to stop and let go.  Things don’t have to be perfect, my house doesn’t have to be perfect, but I need to be welcoming – both my house and my heart need to be welcoming.

The real challenge is – I can be welcoming to my friends, the people we meet at church, but what if we are just us – just the family – can I be welcoming to them too?