Day 14: Practicing Rest Every Week

“No Sunday Funday!”

I thought it was pretty solid branding on our part, but as you can see from the above exclamation, Sunday Funday in the Troy house has been rejected – by Tommy, in this instance – for the sole reason we lay all screens to rest on Sundays.

No screens. The boys hate it. They push back. They needle. They cajole. They barter. When all these fail, they set to make our Sundays as miserable as possible. Jesse mopes, Ezra claims boredom around every corner, and Tommy shouts.

Sunday Funday, indeed. It’s more Sunday-Used-to-be-Funday because when we kept the screens around, Mom got to nap, and there isn’t a Sunday that I don’t want one, which means every Sunday, I’m tempted to throw out the “Funday,” bring back the screens, and quit this little digital ascetism experiment.

We’re a year-and-a-half in, and it all started from an unfortunate sermon about recreation vs. restoration. Basically, some things are fun and numbing in their fun, and these serve a purpose. I would put watching The Office in this category, and it works great on the days where I need to end somewhere, and I’m not quite ready to descend into my drooling, exhaustive heap (see yesterday’s post), but the thought of picking up a book or going for a walk or doing anything, really, sort of sends me there. So, I turn on The Office and tune out.

But my soul needs more than a tune out. It needs rest – strong rest that proactively takes on the hurry, demands, distractions, work, and worries of the week. I need a practice that helps me to step back from what is and turn to what also is but harder to see.

So, this is how weekly rest started for our family – as a No – and like many exercises in faith, it took a little time to see how God would fill the void with something greater than a nap. It turns out, it’s a crazy exchange where I give him a day, and He gives me a week.

Sundays change Mondays.

My Sundays actually start on Fridays now. The energy and enthusiasm I brought into the work week is gone by the afternoon, and I’m happy to close my laptop. Saturdays, we putter. I’d call it chores, but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels nice to put things in order (for the hot second order lasts in a house with young kids). I’d call it errands, but it doesn’t feel that way, either. It was nice to get out of the house and go to the Farmer’s Market last Saturday. Combined, they feel like a necessary transition between work and rest, so that when Sunday Funday hits, I’m ready for it. I’m a day separated from my work, and I’ve set up the house for us to rest.

If you’d asked me last Sunday what was coming up this week, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. I suppose I could have thought about it, but why? Monday would come soon enough, and I’d get to it when it came.

Sundays change Mondays, and I enter into the week now with a renewed mind, body, and soul. I can see why Sabbath is God’s gift to us – a gift with teeth, sometimes. I can see why it’s also a command. If I don’t step back to see how He sustains, I’ll start to think I do. Thanks to Sunday Funday, I don’t. I see I play a part, and I’m happy to play that part. Tomorrow.

I’m interested to know how you rest every week. How do you break and what measures do you put into place to ensure that?

Also, for those of you with families of young kids – HELP! How do you find rest outside of a nap? How do you find rest together? Let me know in the comments below. I will be taking notes.

We’re talking rest right now on the blog – what it is, why we need it, and how we get it. If you just jumped in, go to Post 1 to catch up. Sign up for the blogs to go straight to your Inbox so you don’t miss any!