Ahhhhhhh

Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Ex. 31:15

How often does Sunday seem anything but the "day of rest" spoken of in the scritures?

In our household it is most often a day of flat-out action.

a) Church in the morning - getting the kids ready; making sure they are dressed; breakfasted; hair is brushed; teeth are brushed; they have some reading materials; Alyssa getting her children's Sunday School materials and activities together; me loading the car with video projector; laptop; making sure I have my bible; preaching notes.

b) Get to our place of meeting; set everything up; photocopy notes/hand outs/whatever; Alyssa sets up for Sunday School; we find a seat; participate in the service; pack up; try and talk to as many people as possible; keep packing up; have a cuppa; pack up some more; rush home.

c) Make lunch; clean up from breakfast; try and spend some time together as a family.

d) Afternoon meeting time; get the kids ready; get the projector and laptop and whatever else is needed together; final touches to preparation; make sure the kids have activities to keep themselves occupied; load the car; drive half an hour.

e) Get home on dark; get the kids into the shower; eat if we haven't already done so; get the kids to do their afternoon chores; get the kids into bed; exercise for an hour; try and catch up with Alyssa; go to bed; sleep.

That's a typical Sunday in the Rigg household. Unfortunately most other days of the week are the same. Throw in school, work, bible studies, youth group, leadership meetings etc. etc.

For the next 4 weeks things are going to be a little different. We are taking a church fast (my friend Glenn talks about fasting in this post). Actually, what we're really doing is making Sunday our day of rest.

Here's how today looked -

a) Stayed in bed until about 9am. Kids got up when they were ready and played and got breakfast for themselves when they felt like it.

b) Had a shower, checked my emails and then at around 9.45am we all sat down together in the lounge room. The kids lit a candle each and told us all about the symbolism. I told a story illustrating Ephesians 1:3-6 (adoption). The kids talked about the story and asked questions. We prayed and the kids asked if I could play the guitar and we could sing.

c) 10.20am I jumped in the car with the Luke and Ash and we went and checked out the surf. There was a little bit off the boat ramp. Went home and grabbed the rest of the family and my board and hit the beach.

d) Surfed (well actually just kinda bobbed around - there was nothing much by the time we got back as the wind had changed direction and turned everything to chop) and prayed for half an hour, then paddled in and sat on the beach and talked with Alyssa for another half an hour, the kids played and swam, we had a really relaxing time.

e) Jumped back in the car and went home to lunch feeling more relaxed and intune with God than I have on any Sunday (or any other day of the week) for a very long time - Alyssa said she felt the same.

This afternoon we have our Sunday arvo meeting (now only once a fortnight) but, both Alyssa and I agreed, it doesn't feel like a chore, simply because the start of the day hasn't been madness.

Alyssa and I both wondered as we drove home from the beach, whether God really intended us to do Sunday mornings as we have done for so long, or if he intended it to be more like it was for us today? Perhaps we should reintroduce the death penalty for working on the Sabbath! :)