Saturdays are such a mixture. I have tried to narrow down the main purpose or main goal for Saturday.
The best Saturdays for me and my family are the ones that prepare us for Sunday. That may sound overly pious, but it is really the truth.
If on Saturday I am able to figure out every meal that we will have on Sunday, and partially prepare them, that may mean baking muffins for breakfast ahead or, making sure there is enough cereal and milk. Being certain about the lunch menu, is absolutely the best thing I can do on Saturday, for a good Sunday!
Our grandmothers and great grandmothers used to fry chicken on Saturday and have everything baked and ready for Sunday lunch before they went to bed on Saturday. My dad remembers having fried chicken on the fine china, that now sits snug in my hutch, every Sunday when he visited his aunt and uncle.
I think in our post modern era we threw out the baby with the bath water when we gained our right to not be in the kitchen. There is something so healing about having all of your children gathered around the table, with candles lit and napkins folded (even if they are paper... although I prefer cloth, especially on Sunday) heads bowed and the Sunday lunch "Amen" said, there is a miraculous split second when everything is beautiful, and there is nothing to do but drink in a moment of leisure and pleasure.
Now I must stop here and take three huge steps back.
I have been known to, and usually do, try and accomplish the above stated conditions for Sunday lunch. HOWEVER... I have also opted for plan A, and actually prefer plan A.
I heard about plan A, from a very wise Rabbi once. I say plan A, because I do believe that what the Rabbi spoke to me about Sabbath is indeed the first plan that the Jews implemented through the generations in the effort to obey the fourth Commandment.
Thus,
Plan A
Spend Saturday (for the Jew, Friday) preparing for a complete day of rest for a true Sabbath rest on Sunday (for the Jew, Saturday)
And on Saturday evening (for the Jew, Friday) have a family meal with linens, and candles.
Then on Sunday (for the Jew, Saturday) have a lighter meal, that has been completely prepared the day before (that may be a stew that simmered in the crock pot all night, or sandwich "fixins" (as we say in Texas) ready to set out.
By doing this we can truly take Sunday (Saturday) off from all meal preparation, and all work. No laundry, no dishes (to accomplish this the dishwasher, or sink, should be emptied the previous day and be ready to receive each persons personal dishes throughout the day) no work at all. No one person should "do the dishes." Each person should scrape and place in the dishwasher, or stack neatly in the kitchen sink, their handful of dishes throughout the day. And if the meals are kept simple, the dishes are also simple.
Either way, Saturdays are best spent in preparation for Sunday.
Lay out the Sunday clothes, straighten the house completely before dinner on Saturday. Have the entire focus be on what is going to happen on Sunday. When I am able to clear my agenda and accomplish this, there is still time in the afternoon to snuggle on the couch and watch a baseball game, or even now I hear some sort of car racing coming from the den. So Saturday is still a fun day, still a family day, still a day to wash the car, get the yard mowed, whatever needs to be done, but at the end of the day, I hope to lay my head on the pillow and be completely ready for Sunday rest. For Sabbath!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
M & M's on Friday!
Friday M & M's are the best of the whole week!
I love taking pictures, I just usually forget! It is terrible but many of my children's birthdays are picture-less! TERRIBLE, I know!!! But when I look through pictures for special occasion albums, or to make copies of for my grown children I look back and most of the pictures are from those events like birthday parties and Christmas, Easter... Very seldom are there just pictures of us, living life, enjoying the "normal days" together. When I realized that most of the pictures we have taken are from two or three times a year, I decided to start taking "normal day" pictures.
Which brings us to Friday's M & M's.
As we are making all of these Meaningful Moments, let's take some pictures of them!
Let us set down a couple of goals, and let's keep them simple.
First, take as many pictures today as you like, but keep them away from the embarrassing harassing type... "caught the 15 year old in curlers and will humiliate her for years"... (and don't let the 17 year old brother take those either :).
Second, choose 10 pictures to get developed either tonight or tomorrow. If you must, expand to 12 pictures. (Some may remember that 12 shots used to be a small roll of film!) Do not put it off! If you take the file or download to Walmart or SAMS, it will cost less than $2 to develop 10 pictures.
At the end of the year you will have 520 "normal day" pictures! And I believe they will be far more valuable than the 15th picture of candles being blown out!
Have fun with this! Make some memories that will last for years... TODAY!
I love taking pictures, I just usually forget! It is terrible but many of my children's birthdays are picture-less! TERRIBLE, I know!!! But when I look through pictures for special occasion albums, or to make copies of for my grown children I look back and most of the pictures are from those events like birthday parties and Christmas, Easter... Very seldom are there just pictures of us, living life, enjoying the "normal days" together. When I realized that most of the pictures we have taken are from two or three times a year, I decided to start taking "normal day" pictures.
Which brings us to Friday's M & M's.
As we are making all of these Meaningful Moments, let's take some pictures of them!
Let us set down a couple of goals, and let's keep them simple.
First, take as many pictures today as you like, but keep them away from the embarrassing harassing type... "caught the 15 year old in curlers and will humiliate her for years"... (and don't let the 17 year old brother take those either :).
Second, choose 10 pictures to get developed either tonight or tomorrow. If you must, expand to 12 pictures. (Some may remember that 12 shots used to be a small roll of film!) Do not put it off! If you take the file or download to Walmart or SAMS, it will cost less than $2 to develop 10 pictures.
At the end of the year you will have 520 "normal day" pictures! And I believe they will be far more valuable than the 15th picture of candles being blown out!
Have fun with this! Make some memories that will last for years... TODAY!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday M & M's
Let's start fresh with a review of daily M & M's (Meaningful Moments)
M & M’s in the Morning
Get yourself up on time
Wake them up to a pleasant sound
Have breakfast prepared
Read to them (short but sweet)
Help them get read head to toe
Make beds
Check Family calendar
Give them a drink of water
Bless them
M & M’s in the Evening
Eat together with candles (at least 3x’s a week)
Lay out clothes and supplies for tomorrow
Check family calendar
Straighten bedrooms
Read one chapter from a family book
Have family prayer time
For a more fully developed guide go to the blog titled
"M & M's (Making Meaningful Moments)"
On to Thursday's M & M Concentration:
My wonderful sister-in-law Kathi, is actually the author of this idea. She has "Media Free Thursday!" And I love it! In our family, we have done away with the media (i.e. movies, video games, television, computer, etc...) for periods of time, like a solid week, or even several months at a time. But I had never thought about just designating a single day each week to be free of the clutter of media noise, and the eye pollution, and general creative stifling gunk.
Now, please don't get me wrong here. We are very selective about our media every day, and we never have unwarranted media just flowing into the atmosphere. But even those who have limited amounts of media, it is a wonderful discipline to have a weekly hiatus from the distraction, no matter how limited it may already be.
I must admit that this particular Thursday may be especially difficult for my crew, because I am working on a lengthy project that has me away from home for most of the day. So the afternoon distraction for the two year old will be sorely missed. But we are going to try our best to accomplish the task of living without computer, television, or video entertainment for the entire day. (By the way, I am typing this particular blog on Wednesday night just to ensure that I do not need to get up early to write.)
So, here goes, Media Free Thursday!
Have fun reading, playing, block building, play doughing, neighborhood walking, flowerbed digging, mess creating, and generally family being, every moment you possibly can!
M & M's are WONDERFUL on Thursday!
M & M’s in the Morning
Get yourself up on time
Wake them up to a pleasant sound
Have breakfast prepared
Read to them (short but sweet)
Help them get read head to toe
Make beds
Check Family calendar
Give them a drink of water
Bless them
M & M’s in the Evening
Eat together with candles (at least 3x’s a week)
Lay out clothes and supplies for tomorrow
Check family calendar
Straighten bedrooms
Read one chapter from a family book
Have family prayer time
For a more fully developed guide go to the blog titled
"M & M's (Making Meaningful Moments)"
On to Thursday's M & M Concentration:
My wonderful sister-in-law Kathi, is actually the author of this idea. She has "Media Free Thursday!" And I love it! In our family, we have done away with the media (i.e. movies, video games, television, computer, etc...) for periods of time, like a solid week, or even several months at a time. But I had never thought about just designating a single day each week to be free of the clutter of media noise, and the eye pollution, and general creative stifling gunk.
Now, please don't get me wrong here. We are very selective about our media every day, and we never have unwarranted media just flowing into the atmosphere. But even those who have limited amounts of media, it is a wonderful discipline to have a weekly hiatus from the distraction, no matter how limited it may already be.
I must admit that this particular Thursday may be especially difficult for my crew, because I am working on a lengthy project that has me away from home for most of the day. So the afternoon distraction for the two year old will be sorely missed. But we are going to try our best to accomplish the task of living without computer, television, or video entertainment for the entire day. (By the way, I am typing this particular blog on Wednesday night just to ensure that I do not need to get up early to write.)
So, here goes, Media Free Thursday!
Have fun reading, playing, block building, play doughing, neighborhood walking, flowerbed digging, mess creating, and generally family being, every moment you possibly can!
M & M's are WONDERFUL on Thursday!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
M & M's on Wednesday
Wednesday: Mid-week Deep Cleaning
The weirdest thing about Wednesdays for me is that I always seem to get into big cleaning projects on Wednesday afternoon. It is as if it takes me the first two days of the week to get the house back under control from the weekend and finally on Wednesday I can start making new headway, "Going where no man has gone before..." into the nine year old's closet, or doing the big clothing season switch, or the inside of the refrigerator... whatever, I always seem to be up to my elbows when I look up and it is 5:30 p.m. and I have to finish up, get the kids fed, and everyone in the van for Wednesday night church!
I suppose my deep cleaning on Wednesdays gives me the idea that working on deep cleaning in my own heart and the heart of my kids may be a good thing to strive for on this day. So today, pay special attention to those corners within my own thoughts and attitudes and the closets of children's character. You know the messy areas where laziness, ungratefulness, unforgiveness, thoughtlessness, fit throwing, worry... those places they all live and grow and try to take over. Notice, and begin to clean out hidden cobwebs of disorder in our hearts.
So today, begin taking notice. And pray for the Lord to give you wisdom as to how each "closet" must be dealt with. Today, stop putting it off, or stop looking over it, and really face the character "flaws" for what they are becoming, or maybe already have become: rebellion.
M & M's are perfect on Wednesday!
The weirdest thing about Wednesdays for me is that I always seem to get into big cleaning projects on Wednesday afternoon. It is as if it takes me the first two days of the week to get the house back under control from the weekend and finally on Wednesday I can start making new headway, "Going where no man has gone before..." into the nine year old's closet, or doing the big clothing season switch, or the inside of the refrigerator... whatever, I always seem to be up to my elbows when I look up and it is 5:30 p.m. and I have to finish up, get the kids fed, and everyone in the van for Wednesday night church!
I suppose my deep cleaning on Wednesdays gives me the idea that working on deep cleaning in my own heart and the heart of my kids may be a good thing to strive for on this day. So today, pay special attention to those corners within my own thoughts and attitudes and the closets of children's character. You know the messy areas where laziness, ungratefulness, unforgiveness, thoughtlessness, fit throwing, worry... those places they all live and grow and try to take over. Notice, and begin to clean out hidden cobwebs of disorder in our hearts.
So today, begin taking notice. And pray for the Lord to give you wisdom as to how each "closet" must be dealt with. Today, stop putting it off, or stop looking over it, and really face the character "flaws" for what they are becoming, or maybe already have become: rebellion.
M & M's are perfect on Wednesday!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
M & M's on Tuesday!
Tuesdays aren't usually much easier than Monday.
So I suggest to make a fun food today... like Jello, or Smores over the kitchen burner or in the microwave... maybe those rice crispy marshmallow things... something fun AND EASY!
It won't do any good to have grandeous plans to make that fluffy desert that takes 15 steps and then never get it done, or actually make it this week and then never make anything fun again because you don't have time. Be realistic, and keep it cheap and easy.
Also, the kids love to help with this one. So put aside Betty Crocker and let Kermit in the kitchen to help!
Tuesday! Fun Food Day! What a great memory maker this one can be!
Have a great day, and love your family while you are at it!
So I suggest to make a fun food today... like Jello, or Smores over the kitchen burner or in the microwave... maybe those rice crispy marshmallow things... something fun AND EASY!
It won't do any good to have grandeous plans to make that fluffy desert that takes 15 steps and then never get it done, or actually make it this week and then never make anything fun again because you don't have time. Be realistic, and keep it cheap and easy.
Also, the kids love to help with this one. So put aside Betty Crocker and let Kermit in the kitchen to help!
Tuesday! Fun Food Day! What a great memory maker this one can be!
Have a great day, and love your family while you are at it!
Monday, April 26, 2010
M & M's Bite Size Portions
M & M's can seem very overwhelming when there is a whole pile of them. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing as enticing as a huge bowl of M&M's! No siree! As a matter of fact, M&M's are so wonderful because you can eat on them for several days, or even weeks, but to eat a huge bowl all at once is almost a waste because you can't get the most enjoyment out of them that way. Eating some and leaving some for tomorrow is definitely the way to go.
In the same way, even our Morning and Evening M & M's can seem like a huge bowl of M&M's. Way too much for one sitting. So, let's just take Bite Size Portions.
This week concentrate on one Morning and one Evening M & M.
Let's start with the first and the last.
First, get yourself up on time. Just concentrate on that one Morning
M & M this week.
And then for the Evening M & M, concentrate on having family prayer time.
And look forward to more M & M's for later!
Have a great day!
In the same way, even our Morning and Evening M & M's can seem like a huge bowl of M&M's. Way too much for one sitting. So, let's just take Bite Size Portions.
This week concentrate on one Morning and one Evening M & M.
Let's start with the first and the last.
First, get yourself up on time. Just concentrate on that one Morning
M & M this week.
And then for the Evening M & M, concentrate on having family prayer time.
And look forward to more M & M's for later!
Have a great day!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
M & M's (Meaningful Moments) Start Monday
Monday is a great day to start on any new project. Mondays are almost like New Years Day on a much smaller scale. I'm being real here... have you ever started a diet on say... Thursday afternoon?
Monday is the perfect day to concentrate on what a blessing your children and family truly are. During your personal time in the morning go through each member of your household and think of how you appreciate them and their individual flare and the joy they have brought to your life.
Sometimes this may be difficult if a particular person is causing you tremendous stress, so go back further than the present circumstance and concentrate on a time when they blessed you, and how grateful you are for those times. And project those positive thoughts into your relationship today.
It is very important to allow ourselves to over flow with thanksgiving and gratefulness for the souls the Lord has given to share in the struggles and victories of life. By soaring with our thoughts to the heights of gratitude the mundane dirt and hassle of just going through the day suddenly takes on a new crisp glow, and a renewed purpose.
So Monday is Appreciation Day. Look around and see that the Lord is good, and that His love endures forever (in your home, in your life, in your family... forever.)
Remember keep it basic and start today!
M & M’s in the Morning
Get yourself up on time
Wake them up to a pleasant sound
Have breakfast prepared
Read to them (short but sweet)
Help them get read head to toe
Make beds
Check Family calendar
Give them a drink of water
Bless them
M & M’s in the Evening
Eat together with candles (at least 3x’s a week)
Lay out clothes and supplies for tomorrow
Check family calendar
Straighten bedrooms
Read one chapter from a family book
Have family prayer time
Monday is the perfect day to concentrate on what a blessing your children and family truly are. During your personal time in the morning go through each member of your household and think of how you appreciate them and their individual flare and the joy they have brought to your life.
Sometimes this may be difficult if a particular person is causing you tremendous stress, so go back further than the present circumstance and concentrate on a time when they blessed you, and how grateful you are for those times. And project those positive thoughts into your relationship today.
It is very important to allow ourselves to over flow with thanksgiving and gratefulness for the souls the Lord has given to share in the struggles and victories of life. By soaring with our thoughts to the heights of gratitude the mundane dirt and hassle of just going through the day suddenly takes on a new crisp glow, and a renewed purpose.
So Monday is Appreciation Day. Look around and see that the Lord is good, and that His love endures forever (in your home, in your life, in your family... forever.)
Remember keep it basic and start today!
M & M’s in the Morning
Get yourself up on time
Wake them up to a pleasant sound
Have breakfast prepared
Read to them (short but sweet)
Help them get read head to toe
Make beds
Check Family calendar
Give them a drink of water
Bless them
M & M’s in the Evening
Eat together with candles (at least 3x’s a week)
Lay out clothes and supplies for tomorrow
Check family calendar
Straighten bedrooms
Read one chapter from a family book
Have family prayer time
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