Sunday is a day that looks quite different from the other days of the week at our house. It has the feeling of entering a secret garden that is only opened on the first day of the week and we arrange our schedules so that we can always be present in the garden during that time.
Church opens and closes the day for us. Michael leaves at 9 am with the two youngest children and the rest of us leave at 9:15. We are thankful that church is only about 7 minutes' drive from our house.
Usually we have a fairy who cooks lunch for us each week, namely my mom. Her church service gets out much earlier than ours so she heads to our house and starts the food. This is a great gift, and I don't take it lightly. Yesterday she cooked pork tenderloin with apples and onions and sautéed mushrooms along with roasted potatoes and acorn squash and steamed carrots.
Rachel and Andrew had raced off to a Spanish church service to fulfill one of their requirements for Spanish class so the table seemed extra quiet with only the three youngest children there. For dessert we had tarts leftover from the church ladies' dinner which we enjoyed with tea, sitting in the living room and catching up on our Jesse Tree readings.
Grandma played a few games with the children, I wrote a few Christmas cards, and then it was time to cook food to bring to church for our once-a-month evening potluck. I made my favorite rice salad, a spinach apple salad, and a gluten-free and refined-sugar-free angel food cake -- this was all to use up leftovers from the before mentioned dinner.
While the cake was cooking I had time to make "Laura's tea" which she has come to expect each week. We share a pot of tea and I keep a box of special goodies just for her tea times out of which we choose a few treats. We sit and talk and read books aloud. It's a chance for me to give her one-on-one time during a season in life that is otherwise very busy and often leaves her doing things on her own.
On the first Sunday of the month we have a psalm sing during the evening worship service time. It gives us an opportunity to practice various psalms and to sing for an hour. Afterward we enjoyed all the shared food and conversation until it was time to clean up and go home.
Michael is always extremely tired Sunday evenings and I am tired enough to go to sleep at least an hour earlier than I normally do. And so the gates shut on another Sabbath and a new week begins!
3 comments:
Aw. I love "Laura's tea" and your mom is SO GREAT! What a blessing.
what a lovely meal your Mom made! wow! so special to see how you strive to have one on one time with your kids! :) I am glad you have so many blessings in your life!!!
Dearest Heather, Our church just finished a wonderful study by Priscilla Shirer called Breathe, about creating margins in our lives, particularly on the Sabbath. I shared with my table of ladies the high regard I’ve always had for the way in which you and Michael ‘do’ Sundays, it is family, generally no other commitments, and time to unwind, visit and refresh, a day unlike any other in the week. I’ve always admired how you do this, and I’m thankful that life is still like that in the Lefebvre household - you’re an example to us all!
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