Demon Lady

You know... the great thing about me being a deadline-slacker is that you guys just NEVER know when you're gonna be surprised with a post! Haha! (That's my way of saying "Sorry that I'm always late with my posts!")

But once again, I found myself on Wednesday night mulling over my options of topics. I opened up Word doc after Word doc searching for something to say that was read-worthy. Most everything though ended up being a blatant copyright violation of my bible study book from MomMatters (Real Moms... Real Jesus) or my Wednesday night study (Transforming Prayer), so I just kept plugging along.

(Ironically, I started a really good one on Not Being Motivated To Do Anything... but then I wasn't really motivated to finish that one either.)

But I'm glad because had I posted on time I would have missed today's topic (or it would have had to wait a month)! So here we go...

Sunday mornings are always so decadent. I mean... the sheets always feel so much better. The bed is always warmer. That cup of coffee is always so much more relaxing. The shower water is always just the perfect temperature. Outfits are more fun on Sundays cause you know that you can wear those new heels that would kill you if you wore them to work all day. Speaking of work... no one's going to work, no one's getting up and rushed for school. It's Sunday... we can just... take it easy. take it slow. take it.........

OH MY GOSH WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN 23 MINUTES!!!

SAM! GRAB A GRANOLA BAR AND GO CHANGE OUT OF YOUR PJS!!!

JOSH! NO TIME FOR A SHOWER... YOU TOOK ONE YESTERDAY... JUST SPRAY YOURSELF WITH THAT AXE STUFF!!!

SALLY! BRUSH YOUR HAIR... NO YOU HAVE NOT BRUSHED IT ALREADY I CAN TELL!!!

OH BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, I JUST SPILLED COFFEE ON MY WHITE PANTS!!!

WHAT?!?!?! THE BABY HAS ANOTHER POOPIE DIAPER?!?!?!

WHERE IN HEAVEN'S NAME ARE THOSE DADGUM BADGES FOR THE CHILDREN'S BUILDING?!?!?!

EVERYONE. CAR. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now then... I'm sure that only a few of the women reading this blog have ever, ever had a Sunday morning like this one. I'm sure that most everyone reading this has nice, calm, sweet, precious mornings before church where children say "Thank you" and "Please" and dress themselves without being asked in entirely church-appropriate matching clothes and their husband makes breakfast for everyone in your spotless kitchen while you calmly shower after having had a piping warm cup of sugar-free, fat-free, calorie-free mocha latte on your porch.

But.

For the few of us that tend to have more Sunday mornings filled with chaos and anger. This post is for us.

You see, I realized about a year ago that every. single. Sunday. morning. went just like the crazy one above. And I hated it. I mean... I loved church but the getting there was a total beating. I was yelling at my kids getting ready. I was yelling at my kids getting in the car. I was yelling at my kids driving to church. I was growling at them through gritted teeth masked in a smile once we got to church. And I was angry, stressed, and frazzled when I got to the sanctuary.

And I knew that something had to change. If I kept that up then there was NO WAY that my kids were going to want to go to church when they were teenagers. And I so desperately want my kids to want to go to church when they are teenagers.

So I really sat back and evaluated... why? Why am I so stressed?

Well... because I need to be on time. And well... I'm not exactly prepared on Sundays because, ya know, it's like... it's like the weekend still.

And it hit me that Sundays for my family are the single most important day of the week for me to be organized. ready. prepared. and not rushed.

So I sat down and made myself a little checklist of all the things that I needed to have ready on Sundays. And I backtracked how long it really takes my kids to eat breakfast. And how long it really takes me to get dressed. And how long it really takes to load up the car. And then I added ten minutes to each of those. Because Sundays... are not a day to rush. They are a day to relish and envelope ourselves in the presence of God. And being super prepared has made all the difference. 

I get diaper bags ready the night before. I double check everyone's badges the day before. I decide what we are having for breakfast the night before and then I plan a backup breakfast in case everyone decides to be picky. I play dress-up on Saturday afternoons and decide what I'm going to wear the next day... and then, I come up with a back-up of what I'm going to wear when inevitably someone spits food on me or swipes me with a marker. At the same time, I plan out what the boys are going to wear. I wake up extra-extra early to shower and style my hair. I do not plan on my husband having to do a lick of helping out on Sundays... because I want him to have a God-focused morning as well.

I do all of this because I want for God to be their focus. to be my focus. I do all of this because I want for Sundays to be our favorite morning. I want for Sundays to be the days that my kids remember when they leave to go off to college so that they seek out the same wonderful experiences. I want for Sundays to truly, truly be SONdays in our family.

And as my last little caveat... you should know that this morning I did NONE of the things that I recommended above. And we were running late. And I was stressed. And I had to bite my tongue a zillion times. And I honestly didn't even THINK about Jesus until about 10:47am at church even though we got there at 8:53am.

And well, that demon lady that I turn into... I'd rather save her for Mondays.