Getting twelve decently dressed, cheerful people in the car
by 8:30am on Sunday mornings for church is not a job for the faint of heart. I could easily get twelve
grumpy, sloppy, hungry people in the car, but it wouldn’t be pretty or something we would ever want to repeat. And I fear each of us would become church drop outs if chaos and frustration were the dominating feelings associated with getting to church on Sundays. Home church would
definitely be easier, but we love our church and the Sunday preparations have
become a routine that is building lasting memories and teaching organization skills to the kids. Team effort in our very own
version of no child left behind gets each of us hunting under beds for the elusive shoes our dog
likes to hide and the right pair of pants that mom will approve of. The simplest Saturday night oversight can upset the whole applecart
and make this crew create an unwanted scene filing in like a lost herd looking
for an empty row half an hour late on Sunday morning. So if Sunday is truly going to be a day of rest for us, we must start the Sunday Shuffle on Saturday evening and this is what it takes:
Clothes laid out: (25 minutes-ish) check
Matching shoes located and ready: (3 1/2 hours-ish) check
Table set with disposable dishes: ( 20 minutes-ish) check
Crock pot prepared with Sunday's lunch: (1 hour-ish) check
Sunday afternoon nap on the schedule: (3 sec.) check
Total Time: 5 hours 15 minutes and 3 seconds
Whether I'm exaggerating on the time it takes us to get ready or not, I hope to encourage moms with fewer kids who feel like Sunday mornings are too hectic to make the effort. It IS worth planning ahead and preparing the night before. If you don't raise your kids valuing church, they will not value it when they are grown. You can do it!!
