My husband and I both started reading a book 1st of the year called Parenting in the Pew.
He is done with it, I however am still on Chapter 5… I had to start another book for the ladies bible study im taking part in now… so thats slowed me up on the other book.
However, what I have read is amazing!! and it inspired us to start a family tradition in our home.
We are teaching our children the importance of preparing our hearts for Sunday Worship.
… and this preparation starts on saturday!
The book goes into detail about why this is important… and it all made such sense…
Theres way to much to get into here, so just buy the book 🙂
To those curious what we do however… we start with making sure our home is in pretty good shape. Obviously it wont be perfect… thats impossible with young kids 😉 – so ive experienced… but things like laundry should be mostly done, kitchen tidied, clothes put away…
I try to do this throughout the week, so that saturday isnt spent cleaning all day.
Saturday evening after naps, I serve up a nice meal. Doesnt have to be anything specific, but something good.
We have a large white plate that we are using to serve the special meal on – and we also let the kids use the “nice dishes” – so its extra special.
On our table we also light candles.. one in representation of Christ, and then 5 small candles representing each one of us. This might seem a bit cheesy, and I thought it was at 1st (when My husband showed me his idea) – but our boys have LOVED IT, and think its so cool to light all these candles on the table.
We enjoy our saturday evenings with a meal together… and after the meal I serve up a yummy special dessert – and after dessert Travis then reads to the kids a bible story… we then end by singing & prayer.
Once this time is over, I clean up the kitchen while Travis gets the kids cleaned up – we then have the boys pick their sunday morning outfits! Setting them out so they are ready (I will set out Owens) – I then pack the diaper bag for Sunday, as well as the boys “big church bags” – making sure everything is prepared and ready to go.
We have successfully done this since the new year… and Im excited to continue our tradition from here on out.
And why?
Because sundays shouldn’t be spent rushing … finding socks… and stressing over what isnt done.
Instead we enjoy our sunday mornings listening to praise and worship…
taking it easy… and not stressing.
Doing these things on saturday prepares not only our homes… our list – but also our hearts.
Again, I strongly encourage anyone interested in learning more about this to check out the book Parenting in the Pew.
We have loved it!
dreawood 
Sounds like a great book and a super idea to be prepared on SUnday morning by preparing the night before.
We’ve gotten out of fixing a big meal on Sat night… not sure why. But it’s nice to fix a big meal Sat night and then have the yummy leftovers for lunch after church on Sunday… one way to make Sunday a little more restful:)
And we DEFINITELY pick out clothes for the kids the night before… but I’ve started doing it too:) Ahhh, so nice just to put on what is already ready and NOT have to hunt either;)
Like the idea of preparing our hearts with a family devotional and worship!!
@kelly @ In Everything, I need to get better at picking my own outfit too…
I am compulsive when it comes to what I wear tho lol id change my mind im sure!
I can def work on that tho for sure 🙂
Oh and I have nates toy rattle (it was on our drive way!) – the tupperware and his outfit, ill wash his outfit for you and wash the tupperware 🙂
I think I need to get that book! Sunday mornings have always been so stressful with trying to get everyone ready & out the door on time (including the hubs! Ha). I’ve struggled with how to “teach” the kids how to worship and even just what it is. It’s a pretty big concept for little ones to wrap their minds around. And I feel like the only family in our church whose kids don’t sit quietly in the pew and listen!! Do you allow the boys to take quiet toys/books/colors?
@Jenn, I know what you mean… and see it shouldnt be like that…
Im sure your kids arent the only ones not listening tho 🙂 – my kids dont listen 100% – they’re just to young, but it takes training and time…
Heres a list of whats in their bags:
1 coloring book
1 ziplock bag of crayons
1 small match box car
1 sticker pad (they like stickers, esp. taite)
pipe cleaners (you know that kids can mold and bend, it keeps their hands busy)
Thats about it.
In Taites bag I do have a few extras. Taites only 4… and his attention span just isnt there yet, like Calebs… so I allow him 1 action figure… and this keeps him still. He isnt allowed to jump it around though 🙂 – he has to play quietly with it in his lap.
Eventually I want them to get to the point that they wont need any of those things, just a pad of paper and pencil (to keep notes with).
That sounds like such a great book. It would be so nice to make that a Saturday night tradition. Thanks for sharing. By the way I love your new blog look. 🙂
What a nice tradition!!
I LOVE all these ideas! You & Travis are doing a great job. As Vera gets older, I’d love to start doing some of these (the candles, etc.). I’ve definitely been trying harder to get things ready on Saturday night since reading PitP. I try to get Vera’s diaper bag ready and her outfit picked out, and sometimes I even get my own outfit picked out. The thing that stuck out to me the most in PitP was when she said that children are looking to us – and if we’re not being worshipful, they’re not going to be either!
I loved this post Andrea. I just wrote a post on my blog a week back about how Sunday mornings are so stressful because of all the rushing around and trying to get out the door in time for church. I always seem to walk into church with a grumpy attitude. I love the idea of preparing ourselves mentally and physically for the Sunday morning ahead of time. I am going to try this with my family. I may even really get wild and prepare our Sunday meal ahead of time so all I have to do is pop it in the oven when we get home. I also like the candle idea for dinner time. I think a quiet calm setting for dinner would be a great change for our very busy family.
Thank you for this post!
@tanya, you’re so welcome! i hope it helps with your family too – cause it sure has for us!