A Delightful Sunday



Making Our Family’s Sabbath a Delight


What do we want our families to get from their Sabbath Day?  Peace from the world, renewed fortification and determination to do what is right for their week ahead, as  well as stronger family bonds.  How can we accomplish these things and have a delightful Sabbath Day?  


The Lord has commanded us to rest on His hallowed day.  What does that look like for a family with kids?  Perhaps a peaceful day would be a great rest.  How do we make our Sabbath Day a delight for all, and still restful?  Here are some ideas that families have tried.  Maybe one or two of them will fit your family.





1.  Physical Prep for Sunday.


“Saturday is a special day..so we can be ready for Sunday.” (#196 Children's Songbook)  It’s a wonderful concept, to get ready for a Sabbath day.  It takes work especially for us moms, but the extra effort is worth it!


Rose’s plan was to check everyone’s Sunday clothes on Saturday night.  She would then have enough time to find the missing socks, slips, ties, belts, or bows.  As the kids grew, her older ones started doing their own laundry, but her two youngest were not ready to take care of their own clothes yet.  These were the clothes that were hardest to find! So Rose had both boys leave all their Sunday things on her bathroom chair after changing out of them Sunday night.  She then washed their Sunday pants and shirts with her laundry, and hung them where they belonged.  She put the ties on a tie hanger in her closet and the belts on a hook.  This technique saved a lot of exasperation!  The Sunday things couldn’t get lost in a child’s room!  And gradually, these two learned to wash and hang up their own Sunday things like their older siblings. 


For years, the Swansons gave their kids Saturday work every week.  If their weekday chore was to vacuum one room during the week, then on Saturday that child vacuumed all three front rooms of their house.  If a child’s chore was to take out two garbages every day, on Saturday, that child took out all of the garbages and washed out the garbage container with a hose.  The kids were required to clean their rooms and take care of their clothes as well.  The whole family pitched in to clean up the toys or the back porch or do the yard work. Some weeks, for a change, Sallie had one child take charge of a room, giving out all the assignments for cleaning that room.  The family moved through the house with a different child taking charge in each room. 
   

Sallie taught them they needed to do extra on Saturday to be ready for Sunday.  “Does this house look like Sunday yet?” Sallie would ask them.  Sometimes, she would announce, “Bedroom show at 6:00!” and the kids knew that Dad would be coming through and seeing how clean their bedrooms were (with praise and suggestions too), in time for Sunday! 

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At one point, Sallie realized that her kids didn't see her getting ready for Sunday!  She would do much of her cleaning on the weekdays when they were at school, and she would often spend much of her Saturday getting errands run!  Deciding that the children needed to see her example better, she decided to mop her floors on Saturdays--a big effort that would show her kids she too was getting the house ready for Sunday!


Anne decided that she didn’t want to spend so much time worrying about a complex Sunday dinner.  For her family, she decided on a simple Sunday meal and a more fancy one for Monday night, Family Night.  Julia fixed waffles on Sunday as a good simple dinner.  Raeleen preferred homemade pizza each week—simple for her and loved by all.   Melinda had boys who liked to cook, so they all helped fix the Sunday meal together, and shared it with extended family or friends.


2.  Make it a Different day.  Mark likes to tell the kids to make Sunday a different day from the rest of the week.  We wear different clothes, and we play different music than other days.  “Look like it’s Sunday” we tell our kids, coaxing them out of their jammies and into polo shirts or skirts, their “after church clothes” that are different from the rest of the week.  One of our computer playlists is full of inspirational music especially for playing on Sunday.  It sets the tone for a peaceful day.  Different songs than the rest of the week for a different, special day.


The Tanners had been trying to get their kids to do Sunday things for years, such as write in journals, visit the sick, do family history, and write the missionaries.  But after the new emphasis on Keeping the Sabbath day holy, Tim and Cheryl tried a new approach.  They gathered their kids one Family Council and asked them, “What do we want to accomplish on Sunday?”  They all made a list of the good that could come from keeping Sunday holy, such as finding answers to prayers and solutions to problems, growing closer to the Lord, and storing up peace for the week ahead. (See https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-sabbath-is-a-delight?lang=eng )  “How can we help that to happen?” they then asked, and made a second list of what things they could do on Sunday for these good spiritual outcomes.  The kids came up with things for their list, which were the very things Tim and Cheryl had been trying to get them to do all this time!  But since the kids thought of it, they were on board.  They whole family began to have much better Sundays!



3. Devotionals


My Favorite Idea:

Sometimes it’s hard to get teenagers up after a late night, for Sunday devotional or early church!    When I had a house full of teenagers who wanted to sleep in, a friend told me how she used her teen’s favorite food as a motivation.  So I decided that we’d have a special breakfast on Sunday mornings:  everybody’s favorite Peach Crisp.  (My recipe is not the dessert kind, it’s more hearty and healthy, but everyone loves it.)  I only make it on Sunday mornings, and it is a great incentive to get out of bed!  They come to the table to eat, and we sing and read and pray together first!  (Or we do the devotional while they are eating, if needed for a time crunch!  It’s amazing how well they listen when their mouths are full!)  


What about Fast Sundays?  Well, on that day, we all meet in the Family room instead of the Kitchen table.  We ask them to come in to start our fast together, and they come, knowing they might be able to go back to bed afterward!  We gather to talk over who needs our prayers that week, in order to include those people in our fasting and prayers.  That and a short devotional, and our teens are free to go back to bed if they don’t have other Sunday duties.


Sundays are a good day for a different devotional than the rest of the week.  The Martins use Conference talks on Sundays, studying one talk every week.The Doyles decided to read Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage with their children on Sundays, after reading scriptures during the week.  It took several years to get through the entire book, but they had some wonderful discussion about the Savior each week on His day. The Gardners read a sentence of the Family Proclamation every Sunday, memorizing it and discussing that thought in detail.  It was eye-opening to take apart that document, to study the inspired words from Prophets, and to compare it with what was happening in our day.  Going over the words many times made them truly theirs, the foundation of their beliefs.


4.  Family Togetherness


Worshiping together is a perfect way to keep the Sabbath.  Attending church is the ideal way to refill our lives with the Spirit, while lifting and building up those around us.  What an invaluable lesson we teach our children by simply going each week, even if we still struggle to get everyone ready and there!  The delight comes later-- when our children grow up with lives of faithfulness and follow the tradition of being church-goers!

 After church, Young Colby loved it when his Mom set up “Sunday Stations” on Sunday.  At each location, ie on the kitchen table, in the Family room, or at the counter, Mom set up a station (Colby’s word).  At one, there might be materials to write letters, at another a Sunday card game, at another a pile of church magazines, and at another the family’s journals.  One station might be at the computer for Mormon Messages or friend.lds.org. Colby particularly liked the time spent doing these things together—and especially, the refreshments (granola bars) that Mom put in the middle of the kitchen table that he was allowed to eat after he had written a paragraph or drawn a picture in his journal.


Sunday is a great time to be with family!  Many are the happy memories spent with grandparents or aunts, uncles, and cousins on a Sunday evening.  Visiting a Grandparent in their home can become a choice memory for life.  I remember singing for my own Great-Grandmother who was going on 98 years old!


The Frank family was spread out across the country, so they started a different tradition.  Each Sunday morning, Brother Frank sent out a text message to the kids, “Shabbat Shalom” and a paragraph or two about his week with a picture or two.  He encouraged each family to send the same back to him and little by little the kids started sending more words and pictures for this Family newsletter.  Brother Frank told them that at the end of the year, he would compile it all and put it together in a book!  


The Jorgensons are also spread out, so they plan a Family Chat once a month.  One family member sets up a time on a Fourth Sunday that works for all, and then reminds everyone to join the chat.  It is so fun to see everyone as well as catch up on the news of the past month.


Kitty discovered an excellent service she could do for her family through Family History photos.  She had one of her computer savvy kids show her how to upload pictures on Family Search, and she wrote it down step by step. Then, she—the only one left in the family who knew the names and dates of ancestors on some of those old photos—could upload them and caption them so that all could enjoy the old photos!


5.  Peace

The Meyers like to take a walk when the weather’s nice on a Sunday afternoon.  They can notice and talk about the beautiful things they see. They can say hello to the neighbors.  And they can just enjoy being together and unhurried. 


Taking a nap is a favorite of the teenagers in the Jensen home.  The kids stay so busy all week and Sunday is a day when they set aside homework and household projects, money issues and deadlines.  Resting up rejuvenates them for the week ahead.


Singing hymns at home is important to the Christiansons.  They pick one hymn to sing for an entire month.  Grandmother gave each child his own hymn book for Christmas, so they can each open up to the new song.  The hymn not only brings the spirit to their home during a devotional, but at other times, it is a go-to for when bad thoughts or bad lyrics from other songs surround them.


Eliza loves it when Mom and Dad invite her to climb on their bed and have a heart to heart talk on a Sunday evening.  They keep it positive, telling her over and over how much they love her, that they’re glad Heavenly Father sent her to their home, and that she is a great person.  She feels so good when they spell out to her some of the things they admire in her, or her accomplishments that make them so proud.  Mostly, she loves feeling secure and at peace with herself at the end of a peaceful Sabbath day. 

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