Tackling the Sunday Morning Grumpies~~Practical and Prayerful Ways

For those of you with little children, you know that Sunday morning presents a whole list of challenges. Between making sure that everyone is awake on time, laying out clothing for church, preparing breakfast, and making sure that everyone really is in the van when the family departs for church can be a challenge that not even the bravest of men and women are willing to face. ;-) 

And then, on top of all of those challenges, there is often the added bane of what I call the "Sunday morning grumpies." Why is it that generally happy children succumb to these? Is it just me or does it seem that Sunday mornings often have the blight of an extra level of morning grumpiness? Just on the the day when we should be hearing the sounds of birds singing, sweet hymns playing in the background, and feeling a general lightheartedness, instead we hear the bickering of children, the shuffling of feet, and experience that general feeling of unrest and irritation that just crawls under the skin and settles there like a worm in an otherwise very lovely apple. 

What is it about Sunday morning? Sometimes I believe (truly) that Satan goes through extra pains to make sure that we will not go in the right spirit to worship God. He hates it when God's people go to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and so he tries to create chaos and havoc. He attacks the day of worship with a vengeance and tries to defeat the Lord's people in whatever way that he can. But we are called to resist the devil and his devices. There are practical ways of doing this as well as prayerful ones. I want to share some ideas that the Lord has opened my eyes to through the years that I've had with little children--this is still a work in progress--but here it goes--perhaps some of these ideas will be helpful to those of you with little ones. 

How to Counteract the Sunday morning grumpies . . . 

• Prepare ahead of time. Lay out clothing the night or day before to minimize upheaval on the morning of church. Make sure that older children have done this as well; get them into a habit of laying out their clothes for Sunday and making sure that the clothing is pressed and ready to go. Prepare any bags for little ones (diaper bag, activity bag, etc.). Don't bring too many things to church, but bring what is needful for your children at their present age. Let little children bring one stuffed animal or doll to church to hold during the service and allow them to dress the doll or stuffed animal in special Sunday clothes! This helps a child to become excited about church and to give a feeling of "special-ness" to attending church.  Prepare breakfast ahead of time if you make something from scratch or have muffins, etc. ready. Keep breakfast simple on Sunday to minimize the mess and to place the focus upon going to church and worshiping God, not upon an elaborate breakfast.

• Talk to children during the week about how special Sunday is. Remind them that God's house is His special place where we go to worship Him. Remind children not to run or raise their voices loudly in the church building. Set the place of worship apart in your heart and in your speech directed toward your children. God's house is a special place of reverence. Remind children of how blessed we are to go to church and to worship God in this country without fear of persecution. Church should never be talked about as a "chore" but rather, a blessing and a privilege. Showing this attitude toward church will help to encourage your children to view church as a wonderful, special place. 

• On the morning of church, wake up a little earlier than usual to make sure that everything flows smoothly. Get children up a little earlier as well. Use Saturday to sleep in, if your family does that, but keep Sunday as a day of preparation and praise to our God--take a nap later in the afternoon if you need it! Spend some time in prayer before waking up the children so that your own heart and mind are refreshed and ready before the bustle of Sunday morning activity begins. 

• Play quiet and reflective music as the family eats breakfast and prepares for church. A hymn CD helps to put everyone in the spirit and mood of worship. I would avoid loud praise and worship music on Sunday morning, personally--there may be a place for this if you enjoy praise and worship music, but I would avoid "revving" everyone up on a Sunday morning. Rather, encourage quiet, peaceful hearts of reverence before the Lord.

• And finally, pray. Pray before Sunday. Pray during the week. Pray as your family prepares for church. Address any "heart attitudes" that you may see in yourself or in your children. Ask the Lord to give you hearts of joy as a family to worship the Lord together with other believers. And the prayer of faith will be answered. 

What about you? Do you have any ideas to counteract the "Sunday morning grumpies?" I would love to hear them! The Lord bless you as you serve and love Him together as a family. 

Click HERE for another post that might be an encouragement to you! 

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My Ungodly Struggle to Get My Family Ready for Church (And How it Became A Godly Struggle)

Warmth pulsing through my body, I struggled to put on some makeup before church. 

Suddenly, the back door opened, right near the bathroom where I was standing haggardly in front of the mirror.

My brother-in-law had opened it, and the wild crisp wind bit through my woolen sweater.

And I was sweating; the air felt so wonderful. I thought longingly of the icy winter chill and half-seriously contemplated running outside and jumping into one of those great snowbanks heaped in our backyard. 

So. hot. And my layered turtleneck beneath the thick wool of my sweater was beginning to overwhelm me. 

Why did I think that it would be a good idea to wear high-heels again (even if they were perennial Misses "I Love Comfort " brand?) when I had to carry an 8-month old on my hip whilst balancing a diaper bag, a handbag, and a two-year-old in the other hand? 

I was already tottering.

And the smoke was beginning to rise from my unrighteous nostrils.

Elisha, tucked into his little car behind me, began to make shrieking noises -- apparently, I was taking a little too long putting on the makeup. 

I could hear little Debbie puttering about in the kitchen -- oh dear -- running around the kitchen and the chaos was beginning to close in around me on this fine Sunday morning -- day of rest, day of peace and tranquility and holiness and oh wait--

"Debbie, be gentle to Mr. P. !" (my sister's half-crippled pug.)

"I am being gentle, Mommy," she answers, as I see Mr. P. nervously scoot to the other side of the room. 

"Can I have some orange juice, please?"

"We don't have orange juice, Debbie-" (interject Elisha's shrieking) "Mommy has to buy some at the store tomorrow."

Oh, why did I wear a woolen sweater???

My husband comes down the stairs, three different ties hanging over his arm. 

"Which one should I wear with the outfit you picked out for me?

(Elisha shrieking)

Debbie running around the kitchen table, pausing to happily remove the shoes I had just put on her feet for church.

"Anything! Anything matches!" Exasperation gets the better of me after the stress of trying to organize everyone, everything and somehow do it in time for church -- and later in the van as we drive for 20 minutes, I have a chance to catch my breath before the next flurry of activity.

This is not what I want my Sunday morning to look like. 

This is not how I want my children to think of Sunday mornings -- as chaotic times of haze before we rush into the car for church and sit sheepishly in the pew. 

We have very little children; there will be some chaos -- there is no way to ensure that everything will run smoothly on a Sunday morning. 

But I want my family's "struggle" to get ready for church, to get ready for worship, to be a Godly struggle -- and I want my struggle to be a Godly one as well. Not a frustrated, overwhelmed, burdened struggle that I later need to repent of. 

And these are some practical things that the Lord has laid on my heart that have helped to turn the ungodly struggle into a Godly one. 

And before the "practical" comes in, we have to realize that the root is a heart issue -- a "mood" issue -- and, as Oswald Chambers says, "moods go by kicking." 

And moods go by surrendering and submitting and trusting in the One who created little children and Sunday mornings and who gives us the grace to overcome and to hold on to His joy through the struggle of it all. 

So here they are -- helpful to me, and maybe to someone else, too:

• Prepare clothing the night before -- this includes ironing -- and lay out each family members' outfits for the next day.

• Wash hair, take showers, baths, etc. the night before. Minimize the amount of time spent in the bathroom on Sunday morning.

• Remind children that Sunday is a special day, a set-apart day. Make Sunday "Special" in the way that you talk about it as a family -- as something that is exciting and delightful, not a burden or another "item " on an already-overflowing schedule.

• Keep Sunday activities to a minimum. Focus on spending time worshiping the Lord, with other believers, etc. Emphasize the importance of this to your children. 

• Wake up a little earlier than usual on Sunday morning to ensure a little bit of extra time to get ready.

• Pack the diaper bag the night before as well as changes of clothes, books, snacks, etc. and put these together near the door. 

• When things don't flow smoothly, laugh, pray, and do the best you possibly can to get the family to church on time. Don't panic; pray. 

These are practical steps that have helped us as a family. Sunday mornings usually go more smoothly when we put them into practice. It will never go perfectly -- and that's where His grace comes in. No matter how "prepared" we are, there will always be disturbances, distractions, interruptions, diapers that need to be changed at the last minute, and cranky toddlers. 

But He gives His grace. And as we seek Him and pray to Him and ask Him to fill our hearts with thankfulness, He will transform our Sunday mornings. And our ungodly struggle will become a place of praise to show forth His glory.  

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