I’m keeping up the habit of sharing helpful habits here on Fridays! Summer is an easy time to settle into a new habit since we don’t have school work on top of the regular, day to day. So, today, I’m sharing a habit that has helped our family for many, many years. Plus, since I first wrote about this habit over on Habits for a Happy Home in the winter of 2009, the Doorposts folks themselves, just this week are sharing a wonderful series of posts on the subject. See, their A Day of Delight: Making Sunday the Best Day of the Week is the very book that inspired our habit.
So, to begin with, go to the experts and please read their series on the new Doorposts blog:
- Preparing for a day of rest, part 1
- Preparing for a day of rest, part 2
- Preparing for a day of rest, part 3
- Preparing for a day of rest, part 4
Then, spend a minute with the Hodgepodge and…
Ready, Set, Go: The Habit of Being Ready. Yes, it is a little bit easier in the summer…
Here they come. Piling loudly through the church door. One child’s ankles are neglected – no socks. The wind and cold swirl inside behind them. The youngest girl’s pigtail is flopping and about to come out. Another child tugs on mother’s arm. Mom is harried and worn, her lips a thin, straight line. She wears no coat herself and carries all the necessary bags. She seems a bit relieved the family made it but mostly it looks like she just needs to sit down.
I used to be that mother. Some Sunday mornings, I admit I still am that mother. Those weeks that I don’t plan ahead. I don’t check the calendar and I don’t prepare. I am that frazzled mother lacking a smile and a coat.
So how can you make a habit of being ready for church? Or any event? How can you walk through the door with everything you need, on time, with several children in tow?
The answer rests in simple planning. Rather than compacting all you need to do into one, stressful morning, do a little throughout the week. Think of it as daily steps towards Sunday worship. Make Sunday the focus of your week.
Let all things be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40
It is not aiming for perfection. It is a habit of anticipating. Sunday morning can be joyful. And you and your family can delight in the Lord. Make Sunday the focus of your week.
13 -14“If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, God’s holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’ making money, running here and there— Then you’ll be free to enjoy God! Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all. I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.” Yes! God says so! ~ Isaiah 58:14 The Message
Adapted over the years and applied to every day of the week – from Doorposts’ A Day of Delight: Making Sunday the Best Day of the Week. If you are interested in what we do each day of the week to prepare for Sunday, please read more of Ready, Set, Go! at Habits for a Happy Home…
- Plus, these related posts…
- Fast Food for Slow Sundays (Easy slow cooker meals we enjoy for Sunday lunch).
- The Sunday Box is a fun way to plan family activities for Sunday.
- Also related is how we are teaching children to tithe.
Here at Hodgepodge this week I adapted this habit of spending just a bit of time each day getting ready. We have Vacation Bible School coming up. I decided that I would prepare for Monday of VBS on Monday of this week. Tuesday on Tuesday, etc.
A few highlights from the rest of the week:
Full tilt on the backyard plastic pool fun while we are trying to be patient as they make repairs and bring our neighborhood pool up to code. (Notice how well our squash are doing!)
I shared an updated list of ideas for our Summer Camp at Home.
We so enjoyed a Queen Anne’s Lace nature study.
Middle Girl made lunch one day, since we received our much-anticipated monthly 10 lb. order of Sunbutter!
We made another round of homemade liquid laundry detergent. This time the littlest ones got in on the action.
Eldest boy has been doing more independent research on all he learned at the Creation Museum on his trip.
And, I think our Eldest Boy just may have the starts of a pressure washing business.
Plus, we enjoyed lots of popsicle sorts of days. And, today, Hodgepodgedad and I celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary! That’s a photo I took of a wedding photo with my phone 🙂 Yes, we left in a VW bug. More on that in Monday’s gratitude post. 
If you are interested in the rest of the series on Helpful Habits, you can find them here. Also, be sure to stop by and visit Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what she and her family have been up to plus lots of other homeschooling folks too.
What habit helps your family be ready? Or, have you enjoyed your first watermelon of the summer time yet?
What a lovely week. Summer fun including nature study and anniversery celebration!