Sunday, April 28, 2013

I Need Your Help

The subject for my Sunday School lesson next week is the Sabbath day, keeping it holy, why we should, etc.  So I would like to ask each of you if you would respond to this post and tell me one thing (other than attending church meetings) that you do to show how you worship the Sabbath. What do you do with your family? How are you teaching your children the sacredness of that day?  I would like to get at least eleven responses from you that I could use in my lesson.  Please?!  This is never an easy subject for parents because their kids want to carry on as usual - some parents want to take the day off as a vacation from work and some parents are just plain weary after wrestling with their little kids during Sunday meetings to even care much about this day. I think I missed about 10 years of meetings by sitting in the foyer trying to keep my kids quiet. But leaving the meetings out, what do you do to prepare for and observe the Sabbath before and after your meetings? I would love some input from all of you.

On another note, last night a few of us gathered together at the Oquirrah Mt. Temple to participate in the endowment session with Kaitlin. I thought I would be quite teary-eyed because she is my last daughter to go through this. I will probably never get to be an escort again. I may never get the opportunity to hear the instruction given to first-time attendees and I probably won't have the opportunity again to help explain some of the clothing and help pack the packet and bag. Maybe I will be able to do that with Ammon but I would assume Jim would take more of that responsibility when Amnmon goes through. It has always been an honor for me to be my daughters escort. It has been a privilege to have good conversations with my children about the temple and why we should go there.

Kaitlin said it felt like she had come home. She caught on quickly and seemed perfectly at ease. I was proud of her and the determination she has always had to go through the temple. Now, in 9 days she will enter again and become a bride to a wonderful young man that every one of you will love.

Chelsey and Brent came early to do initiatories and an endowment session for Brent's relatives. Their children had the opportunity a week ago to be baptized for them. When Charlie and Yolanda come out to visit next, they will do the sealings. This has been a special experience for them. Jess & Jen and Adam & Amy were also there. Unfortunately, due to a severe case of bronchitis, Gillian was too ill to come and was afraid she would infect everybody. We were sad they were unable to come and hope for Gillian's speedy recovery. My only regret was that we were not all there together. But I am still reminded of that joyful reunion I hope we have when we all pass through the veil at the end of our mortal lives as we greet one another upon our entrance into the Kingdom of God.  It was a special day.

4 comments:

Jess Clark said...

Regarding the Sabbath Day: weather permitting, we almost always take a family walk around the neighborhood. We also enforce the "walk" part and don't let them take scooters, bikes, etc. We love the walks.

It was great being at the temple with you guys. I was glad to participate and observe Kaitlin receive her endowment.

Mike and Adrianne said...

Like Jess, we also go on walks (when my foot isn't hurting) without bikes and scooters. We go visit Laila's grave, or play games as a family. Mike and Will like to play Civ together on Sundays. Mike and I do not watch any TV at all on Sunday but the boys are allowed to watch some shows but not the normal superhero shows they watch. They have to watch shows like Curious George, Babar, and Veggie Tales. Sundays are also a great day for us to invite other families over for dinner.

chelsey said...

We take the kids (and other youth!) with us to participate in the ward choir. We practice at 2:30 in the afternoon, so sometimes that's difficult to do with other meetings and tithing things, but we try and make it a priority to do all together. Unless someone doesn't feel well, we are trying not to nap on Sunday anymore. I think when Brent or I try to take a nap, it shows the kids we don't value our time with them ; which we don't get too much of all together anymore.
We also do the family walk on Sunday afternoons. Another thing we like to do is have another family over for dinner or bake something together.

Lokodi said...

This is interesting that you've asked us for this assignment. Right now in our family, we have really been struggling with teaching the kids this concept of the Sabbath day. This is something I'm trying really hard to correct over here. We too are limiting the tv shows the kids watch. We've had to tell the neighbor kids a few times that our kids can't play. That has been a teaching experience for our kids. The other day, we were coming home from church and realized we didn't have any gas at all. The gas light came on when we were headed to church and we had to fill up before we got home, otherwise Hans would have been stranded on the way to work the next day. Well, as we pulled into the station, Eva said nice and loud, "Mom, dad, it's Sunday and we're not supposed to spend money on Sundays". Boy, that was a tough lesson for mommy and daddy too. :) So, apparently we have taught them that aspect of the Sabbath, but haven't done a good job with the "reverence" aspect of that day.