Delighting in Sunday
I touched on this in the article on practically preparing for Sunday, but I wanted to chew on it a bit more because I think it is so important. It’s so easy to look at all the housekeeping and miss the homemaking. It’s so easy to look at rules and lists and regulations and convictions and see only the work and the law and miss grace and mercy and beauty. Sunday can be that a bit. It’s a busy day, a day of extra work, get-everyone-out-of-the-house-in-one-piece-and-able-to-listen day. None of this work is easy. It’s easy to avoid it. It’s easy to pout, whine, grumble, complain. It takes work to see the grace, see the mercy, and see the beauty.
As the homemakers, we’re often the ones who see beauty. We are the ones who make beautiful homes for husbands, children, and friends. We’re the ones who fret over floors, fingerprints, germs, flowers, and comfort because we know the power of these things. We know these things are part of being together and what makes home have the ability to be home.
One of the things we should garden in our homes is delight for the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day is our one true holiday. It’s a celebration!
Now, that celebrating isn’t done in our homes. Hold onto that. The celebration is the gathering of the body of believers in our local churches. Our homes aren’t our churches, but our closest sibling-saints are often our family members, and our mission field is often our family members. Our homes should help us prepare for the celebration of the church. We should make it a happy day in our homes, for ourselves and our people. We should accept the goodness of our heavenly Father with smiles, not frowns. We should be sober and serious and not frivolous, but we should be joyfully sober and joyfully serious. We should be filled with thankfulness and praise. All of this worship should be supported by our attitudes at home before we leave for church and after we get home.
Too many of us go into the Lord’s Day as if God is a cosmic killjoy on purpose. We need to buy into the Lord’s Day as a blessing and a gift, not as a stick-in-the-mud edict to spend all day in gloom. We also need to hold on to our liberty and our individual situations. You must know you and your home and keep your eyes there, not looking over the fence at my home. I need to keep my eyes on my own hearth, not peeking through keyholes to catch you doing something wrong. We tend to go at life that way, just waiting to point out how we’re holier than so and so. Let’s not be that way, ladies. You know your people, your hearth, your home. Tend it with an eye to delighting in the Lord’s Day.
Naps/Baths: When we were growing up, my parents often took Sunday naps. We had a short list of “Sunday” appropriate movies we were allowed to watch and strict rules about when they could be bothered, as in don’t. A Sunday nap after church might just be a way to gloriously celebrate the day.
I am not much of a napper, but my chiropractor has asked me to take an Epsom salt bath after church every Sunday. “May I obey all your commands with equal pleasure!” I have found it to be something I look forward to every Sunday. It is relaxing and restful for both mind and body.
Entertainment/Recreation: Sunday is a good day to adjust your entertainment and recreation. It’s fun to adjust your books, movies, music, and shows to aid in rest and spark conversation. This can be a good day to unplug from phones and devices, or the day you let them be used. This can be a day to play video games or to shut them all off. This can be a great day for a fire and a beer, or to work on a Sunday craft. This is a good time to lay out in the sun or take a hike. If you can manage it, having fellow believers over can lengthen the time of Christian fellowship, or maybe you make the rest of Sunday family time and gather in for popcorn and a movie. Sundays should be rest and rejoicing!
Clothes: I’m open-minded when it comes to clothing worn to church, but the day is more enjoyable when we dress up. If we have Sunday clothes. Not Sunday clothes labeled that because they’re our most uncomfortable clothing. God isn’t cruel. But consider elevating the day by how you dress. Look, I threw away pantyhose the first second I could. I’m not a dressy person. I’m not a suit person. I’m quickly becoming not a heels person. But I do make an effort on Sunday. More layers, more jewelry. I seek to make what I’m wearing less common and more special for the special day. Think about having a couple of great Sunday outfits that you actually enjoy wearing. Step back from the 1950s or your mom’s closet for a moment—unless you truly love both of those—and think about what you would like to wear. What would make you happy? Yes, just simply happy? A smart 3-piece suit? A kaftan? Silk? Linen? Heels? Birkenstocks? Think about just a couple of outfits you love, dress them up, or down, for Sunday, and add that layer of delight to your Lord’s Day. Then do that for your whole family! Look for dresses that light up your daughter’s eyes even if it isn’t something you would wear. Let your sons tell you what they like. Encourage them to appropriately express themselves and enjoy what they wear on Sunday, not hate it.
Side Note: This is not in any way a suggestion to disregard standards of modesty and appropriateness. There were many times my mom made me wear things that I hated because it was appropriate for Sunday. Looking back, I’m thankful she did because she instilled in me a respect for the day regardless of how I felt. What I’m suggesting is not making what is respectful a tiny box labeled the 1950s. Instead, work towards finding appropriate things that are also delightful for you and your family.
Arts and Crafts: As we have room in our lives, Sunday might be a good day to sub-create beautiful things. Maybe write some poetry, or paint with watercolors specifically set aside for Sunday. Write letters to friends and family on special paper. Doodle with a more expensive charcoal set. Knitting or crocheting specific Sunday projects can add a specialness to the day. Cross-stitch and embroidery are wonderful handcrafts that can be used to make Sunday special.
Sub-creation and quiet crafts are wonderful ways to engage our hands on the Lord’s Day with something we might not have time for during the week. They can help ladies who have a hard time resting to feel like they’re producing even while they’re taking time to sit. Conversation can be had, or podcasts and music listened to while the hands are busy.
Toys and Games: I once heard about a family that had a special toy box that was only opened on Sunday. I always thought that was a grand idea. It seems like a great way to help children learn to delight in the Lord’s Day, not loathe it. This could easily be individualized with board games, musical instruments, or even a video game reserved for Sunday only. Maybe Sunday is nerf gun day? Puzzle day?
Food: Food and drink should be part of our Sunday celebration. Keep in mind, we are supposed to be resting too. It isn’t wise to cook all day in some unbalanced attempt to create delight and end up not resting or worse, missing church. Think about things like simple cocktails and charcuterie boards. Charcuterie boards aren’t too messy, and they’re special and artistic. Maybe Sunday is the day you share a bottle of wine. Maybe you buy or make better bread set aside for use on Sunday. Maybe you get a fancy cake on Saturday or pick up a Papa Murphy’s pizza so that Sunday has a fun and easy meal. This is also a wonderful day to make an extra indulgent coffee because God is good.
The point, dear keepers of the hearth, is to check our hearts and make sure we’re not making the Lord’s Day miserable for ourselves and our people because we whine, complain, and get frustrated. Let’s strive to make the day restful and special for our homes. And for the love of all that is holy, remember you are finite. There is nothing holier about forcing yourself to be joyful in a vacuum. God has given us so many rich things. Use them. Rest. Honor the day. Guard and garden your heart. Taste and see that the Lord is good.
