Getting a Do-Over - I Would Have Pedaled Slower (Part Deux)

Getting a Do-Over - I Would Have Pedaled Slower (Part Deux)

BESIDES THURSDAY NIGHTS, do you know when else I wish I had pedaled slower? On Sunday mornings. If I could do it over, we would have skipped church. What! you say.

Yes, this Bible-totin’, sittin’-in-the-pew-every-Sunday-morning mother would have reserved one Sunday a month for nothing more than pancakes and snuggles. I can watch a television commercial for pancake syrup and feel such pangs of regret—it’s been known to bring me to tears. Now, who in their right mind cries over an Aunt Jemima commercial? Hallmark cards, yes, but Aunt Jemima? Well, I do.

There is something magical and, of course, sacred, about Sunday mornings. Everything seems to move at a little slower pace; the sun shines sweetly through the windows, and everything is at peace. Unless you’re getting the teenagers up for church.

Then, the yelling starts—“You’ve got to get up or we’re going to be late”; “Scott, for heaven’s sake, you can’t wear that, we’re going to church, not a garage sale. Go change”; “Shauna, go back in the house and get your Bible.” Everything moves at a slower pace on Sunday mornings all right (especially the kids), but peace wasn’t the word we would have used to describe our household at 8:55 every Sunday morning as we tried to hit the 9:30 service.

Compare this scene to the Aunt Jemima commercial where the mom, dad, and kids hustle around the kitchen laughing. Sunlight streams into the kitchen. The kids are talking. The parents are listening. It’s sacred. And I turn gray with regret.

Just as it is sacred for us to take one day a week to take the time to thank God and worship him, I think he’d be so pleased and blessed to watch us take this sacred day, one day a month, to focus on our families. To talk about our questions and our faith. To listen to the kids’ hopes and dreams. And to rest in their precious company.

Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (Exodus 20:8)

Yes, we sometimes had our family breakfast on Saturday, but it wasn’t a sacred time. I wish I had pedaled slower on Sunday mornings.