On Sundays we spend more time cooking and lingering over our meals, often making recipes from @brimckoy. We move inside and outside, inside and out. We ALL nap. It is glorious. We play and dance and listen to so much music. I’m especially grateful for the music and liturgies from @goodshephardny and @gsmusiccollective during pandemic-tide as singing and praying along while watching their videos is as close to singing with a gathered church as we’ve gotten. After our boys go down, we’ve been finishing the day with a board game and a good laugh with my parents on lots of weeks. The combination fills me back up to overflowing each Sabbath so that I can pour out all week from “full.”

Chore Respite

Sabbath ALSO looks like finishing all washing, drying, folding & putting away of my family’s laundry by sunset on Saturdays so that Saturday evenings and Sundays include no laundry for me (as the primary laundry doer in my household), but everyone has what they need to start the week fresh with a full closet and dresser. Grant’s decided to do the same with dishes (as the primary dish washer in our household) and it’s been so life-giving for us both to take a day off each week from these essential and ongoing (ahem *never-ending*) chores.

Sunday Dinner

A bigger Sunday dinner with enough leftovers for Monday lunch. Also, whipping up enough cookie dough for the week. COVID has resulted in the sharing of coveted recipes including this Hilton DoubleTree Signature Cookie Recipe that is currently on our list of favorites.

Sleeping In & Media Treat

Sleeping in while the girls get a “media treat” as we typically have a “no screens on weekdays” rhythm for the kids at home. The Mr. Phil Show is a favourite with videos that take kids through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and introduces famous folks from history, from St. Augustine to Martin Luther King Jr., and Teresa of Ávila, whose faith shaped the world in amazing ways.

Taking Fridays Off

Each Friday I try to take quality time and spend it with my husband and doggo. Sometimes this looks like hanging out on our back porch, other times it’s going for a drive, lots of times it means napping. This day is incredibly important to my family since I work almost all day on Sunday as a minister. My weighted blanket is one of my favorite tools for a soothing, restful Sabbath!

Avoiding Devices

The “Offtime” App allows me to have different “modes” set up, so that when I’m taking a personal sabbath, I only receive notifications about phone calls, not from texts or social media. I often want to leave my phone somewhere so I’m not tempted to use it, but I never want to miss a call that might be an emergency from a family member. Offtime has helped me let go and truly unplug during Sabbath.

Slow Mornings

Lately, Sabbath looks like slow, quiet days with no demands on our time. We sleep in. I make a special breakfast (usually involving homemade pancakes, waffles, or biscuits) and we eat in our pajamas. We do Sunday school + church online these days, but otherwise keep all screens off until late afternoon (after church, lunch, and rest time). Last but not least, I get 1-2 hours to call my very own while everyone rests (this is usually when I settle in for my weekly examen and planning session). My go-to for biscuits and gravy on Sunday morning is this recipe for The King Biscuit from @thelazygenius. 

Spontaneous Play

One of my steps toward moving out of being a workaholic and into keeping Sabbath has been allowing myself to say no to more projects, and yes to fun spontaneous time with my daughter and husband. We’ll often spend lots of time in our little backyard pool - my daughter loves space and astronauts, and has been loving this new pool toy.

Special Breakfasts

One of the ways my family feasts on Sabbath is with an indulgent breakfast. We either might go get donuts, I might make pancakes, or my husband might whip up some of his special bacon. I recently found this to make the bacon clean-up a little easier - it strains and stores the bacon grease!