Day of Rest

The first few months of my mission I hated really didn't love Sundays.  They were my biggest adjustment.  Pre-mission they were blissful, wake up later than normal-go to church for a few hours-come home-take a nap-eat a home cooked (not by me) meal-and just chill for the rest of the day-days.  

I remember my first Sunday in the mission field thinking "this is anything but restful! what happened to my day of rest?"  After a few months I acclimated a bit and just enjoyed the fact that three hours of church, which could easily be stretched in to 4+, meant those were hours not spent on my bike and/or knocking doors.  Sundays weren't as bad as I thought but I still dreamed of coming home from my mission and welcoming back those restful Sundays.  And I did.  I think.  But I am having a hard time remembering what a restful Sunday feels like.  

Five kids is rarely restful, even in the middle of the night but after getting them all gussied up and then spending 3 hours practicing reverence and harnessing all their energy, 5 kids at home in our rather "cozy" house the Sabbath day is anything but restful.  Every few weeks I vow that Sunday meals will from now on be simple to prepare and easy to clean up, I have a really hard time sticking to that.  Today I went for a meal that everyone likes and "wouldn't take too much work."  I am such a bad judge of that. Add to that the fact that I decide to throw together rolls 15 minutes before needing to walk out the door because "rolls just go with this meal."  Why do I do this to myself?  In the end it took twice as long to make and it will (eventually) take way too long to clean up.  But it tasted good.  There was no belching and not even one glass of milk was spilled, so that's a huge accomplishment.  (After having to clean up dinner by herself, I think Kimball has, at least for now, learned her lesson about belching at the dinner table.)

So I just plopped the kids in front of the tv and told them to give me a few minutes to "rest".  And what do I choose to do?  Sit down and blog about how it's not a restful day.

I think the conclusion I am coming to is that I really do put this all on myself.  There's no one to blame but me.  If I lay down right now how many minutes do you think I could get in before someone comes and interrupts?  Hey at least I don't have to go jump on a bike in a skirt and spend the next 4 hours knocking doors.  It's all about your perspective ladies.