Sunday, March 9

Sunday Blues

What an oxymoron!  I know, I know...Sunday is supposed to be a day of rejoicing and rest.  It's the Sabbath, right?  Why is it then that we find it ok - and even praiseworthy - to fill our Sundays with church meetings galore? I used to feel bad about sleeping in on Sunday mornings or skipping out on small group.  If the doors were open, I should be there.  Now that I have a young child, I have seen the light.  The light of Scripture that is.  We're to keep the Sabbath holy.  Resting in the Lord.  This day is supposed to be different from all of the other days of the week.  But, too often we get up early, rush to church, subject our children to a rigorous schedule of Sunday school and worship, rush home for a quick bite to eat, run out the door to a Missions meeting, change our clothes and head out to small group, then get home and frantically prepare what we need for the next day at work.  If I'm lucky, I can find 30 minutes on a Sunday relaxing.  But, all too often, the only rest I find is 15 minutes in the rocking chair, nursing my child.  How did we let it get this way?  Sometimes I feel like we're guilted into this busy lifestyle by the church.  Like the more we participate in, the holier we are?  Of course, no one would EVER say this out loud.  But don't we think it in our hearts?  "We missed you at church last Sunday" or better interpreted as "Where were you?  Sleeping in?!"  At which time I find myself making up some excuse like, "the baby didn't feel well" or "we had a rough week." Why can't I just say "We felt like getting some rest and spending time as a family." Fortunately, this Sunday, I am home for a few hours in between church and small group.  My daughter is actually napping in her crib (rather than the car seat) and I'm sipping a cup of tea as I write this. BUT, my husband is at a Missions meeting and when he gets home, we'll turn around and head out to small group.  Do any of you ever feel this way?

7 comments:

Kentucky Kate said...

Wow, I know how you feel. I can't say I have the answer one way or the other. On the one hand, you are right. On the other hand someone has to serve on Sundays or nothing would get done. I've been struggling with this too. I need to be more involved and serve more in church, but I can't keep my kids around for another service since they barely make it through one. Which makes Eric take the kids home and me stay and serve. Or me miss church.

Don't get me wrong, I really do want to serve and I'm not looking for reasons to get out of it, but I hate that it would seperate me from my family and lunch with them every Sunday.

Eric has agreed to not work on Sundays though (if he can help it) and we usually spend the day together as a family. That helps. Also, Grace has banned (for the most part) small groups and church meetings on Sundays.

Travis,Stephanie, Olivia & Alex said...

Boy did you nail it just right !!! Everything you wrote is so true. It seems like you hear, oh my schedule is just so busy i dont have a spare min. and oh i need to help at church because who will do it ! I am trying really hard myself to just say NO. Let me tell you its really hard but there are others to fill in and take care of things. I am really working on our schedule and allow Olivia to do one thing at a time, no running here and there for fifty million classes events etc. She has Gymnastics once a week and thats it then t-ball for a short time in the summer. Everyone is in such a hurry and have to keep up with what everyone is doing. Why do we allow our children to play 3-4 sports / events at a time. What happened to playing outside and just being a kid :) My goal for my family is to simplify with our home and the things we have and the things we do. Family needs to be first and it needs to be quality time !!! you couldnt have said it any better in what you wrote in your blog, thank you !!!!!

Liz K said...

Rachel! Way to go! How honest! The culture of the rush around is intesified in the church because we now say it's "holy!" We felt that so much when we lived downstate. We have marveled at how different it is now...partly because we don't have Sundays off most of the time so our day off Mondays, we have to just be us. The Lord knew that we needed rest. Take that family day on Sunday sometimes. I think it will teach Annelise something very healthy and good...and we won't tell you we missed you at church:)

Rachael Neal said...

thanks for all of your comments! i should add one disclaimer on this blog...

i certainly am not advocating for members of the church to sit on the sidelines to watch everyone else serve. but, i will say that all to often a small percentage of the body does much of the work. yes, others may be more equipped to serve, but how will those that are less equipped become more equipped if they're never challenged? (that was a confusing sentence!)

stephanie - i love your "simplify life" comment. i'm challenged to parent similarly. annelise won't have a schedule so jam packed that we miss those simple moments at home as a family.

Lee and Candace said...

Yep:) That's all I have to say! Lee and I just watched a Nooma by Rob Bell about this yesterday (it was our church since Grace was cancelled). It's called "Sunday."

Jenny LaBo said...

Amen!!!!
Sometimes my husband and I got to the park for our "church" service. Just us and our Bibles. Sometimes I can get more out of that then running around like a crazy person on a Sunday! :) Great post.

Kentucky Kate said...

I understand - you and Matt have never struck me as the "sidelines" type of people :) Take the break when you need it!