Sunday? ... Sunday!

Within the recent year, the church has put forward a 'campaign,' so-to-speak on making the sabbath day (Sundays) a more meaningful day in one's life. This talk in particular was kind-of the motivator for me to look at Sundays in a different light than I had been:

The Sabbath Is a Delight 

Click to watch/read it!

Within the talk, Elder Russel M. Nelson states:

I am intrigued by the words of Isaiah, who called the Sabbath “a delight.”1 Yet I wonder, is the Sabbath really a delight for you and for me? 

That question really hit me hard.

"Is the Sabbath really a delight for you?"

As much as I wanted to say yes to this question, I was hesitant in doing so. A delight? Sure, parts of it. All of it though? Umm...

I love going to church. Partaking of the sacrament, renewing/remembering covenants I made when I was baptized, listening to speakers giving talks from the heart on doctrine's personal play in their life, having questions posed in lessons that enforce me to search for my experiences with the matter, being taught gospel truths and how to apply them in our everyday dealings, seeing familiar faces, challenging my personal patience in enforcing my squirmy children to be reverent... I'm being totally honest here, I love it all. It's 3 hours of knowing that I am EXACTLY where I need to be, and it brings such peace to my soul. But then . . . it ends, and I'm left with the rest of an entire day that is supposed to be kept holy. Now what?

I've seemed to always have this weird equation in my head:  Sunday = No Fun

If it is fun, I can't do it, I shouldn't do it on Sunday. It probably stems from the fact that Sunday is a day of rest; of putting away physically exerting activities and work. So I got into a habit of being cooped up in the house watching lots of television on Sundays after church. I tried to make and find lists of things to do on Sundays that would be more appropriate, but they never stuck because most of the things on the list weren't anything that I had really desired to be doing in the first place. Most of them didn't sound "delightful" to me.

I made it my goal, my month's goal, to make Sundays (the whole day) a delight for myself. 

We actually had time one Sunday to take a photo prior to going to church! 
I feel like this was no short of a small Sunday miracle sent down because God could see me trying.

Activity - I eased myself into this by simply thinking of some sort of after church project/task planned in my head before Sunday came. These projects were something I had wanted to do on any day of the week, but I reserved them special for Sunday. They were either something spiritually energizing and edifying to myself, a sort of gift to another, or a combination of the two. Most of these activities revolved around writing, because well, that's where my 'delight' seems to be pulled towards. As I worked on these projects I started having a different, more positive attitude on Sundays, and looked more forward to this special day.

Resting - As Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, of rejuvenation, it became apparent that not only strenuous physical exertion was to be avoided, but mental exertion too. I tried to steer clear of energy drainers on Sundays as often as I could, including Facebook scrolling and most television watching. It may not be this way for everybody, but for me, those things really drain my energy. I've come to know what sort of activities drain me and what fills me up. I love looking through the church's website lds.org and snooping around the things featured on their page, and well, Pinterest too.

Family - We walked to church as a family twice within the past month, and it was so enjoyable! Weirdest thing too, we were early! We live close enough that we probably shouldn't be driving, but it seems with how rushed we are getting ready, we drive, and are there just before the prelude music stops. Yet when we chose to walk on a couple warm mornings we were early, and it was filled with stress-less glory. Our big comfy couches were made for sunday family snuggles, and this has become a nice after-church setting to lay ourselves together in a rest. Also, we have good visits and catchups on these couches in what we learned from church and what the week ahead will entail as a family. 

Pancakes - Pancakes have become a sunday morning starter. It's really my hubby that started doing this one. The pancakes are so delicious, and only having them on Sundays makes our day feel a touch more special.

My husband -  Honestly he's the biggest attributer of making my sundays a delight. He takes such great care of our little one's the majority of the day. And as I do the simple mac and cheese meals on Sunday, he has the tendency of taking the kitchen over and creating something fancy and delicious. I couldn't thank this man enough, he's just the best.

I feel as this goal is a marathon, not a sprint, I am just enjoying the journey of finding my own way of making Sunday a delight. Filling the sabbath day with signs to God that I care, that I love Him, that I'm trying, and that I am grateful that he grants me this special holy day every week. 

Heaven's slice is His day.