I sure hope you didn’t read the title of this post and assume I would be giving you my secret formula for getting my family out the door to church each week without being late. I wish. Although I will say: Sometimes we actually are on time!!
And then there are the other times. Do my boys not have a hurry mode? Do they not acurately comprehend my words when I tell them to put their shoes on? Which part of “stop talking so that you can stuff food down your face” do they not understand?
From what I hear, this seems to be an issue in many households. Today is our chance to share the tips and tricks that work for each of us to help get our families up and out the door to church on time – or shucks, maybe even early.
Oh – and since we are, after all, going to meet with our church family so that we can worship our Creator together, I’d love to hear how you encourage your family to be on time, while maintaining joy and smiles! Nothing like good ol’ family chaos to put us in the correct frame of mind to praise God. {cough}
Here’s what works for our family…when it works:
- Do as much on Saturday to prepare as possible. Showers and baths taken, clothes laid out, Bibles and shoes by the door.
- Make breakfast easy. Either we have oatmeal, or I bake something the night before so all we have to do is grab and eat.
- No Sunday morning down time allowed. If you’re not completely ready to leave – with shoes on your feet, contribution money in your pocket, and teeth brushed, you sure as heck better not be shooting baskets in the hallway with a Nerf basketball. (Don’t they know I’m trying to keep that joy and godliness in my Sunday morning routine?!)
- Mom gets up earlier than normal, allowing for twice as much time as it normally takes to get ready. (And sometimes it’s still not enough.)
I am really excited for you to share on this topic!! What do you do to help your family make it to church on time? All ideas are welcome. If it works for you, it may work for someone else. Even if it just works sometimes. Or on the days when the kids don’t play basketball in the hallway before getting out of their pajamas….
Regarding this question, and many others, I have really enjoyed reading the eBook: 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Quesions. In this eBook, these wise moms address topics like: How do you get your family to church on time? How do you teach children to be still and quiet in church? How do you keep your patience in the midst of chaos? How do you teach your children to do chores? How do you deal with sibling squabbles? And so much more.
What a valuable resource for all who are raising children. I encourage you to look into 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Quesions.
I don’t have a family to get ready (single older lady). However, I am not a morning person. Large churches have a Saturday evening service. Also, again this is a large church, in the morning people cut in front of people trying to get the close parking place. My attitude didn’t always remain Christian. Not a good way to attend church. Less people, calm drivers, just easier.
Now I am in another state and webcast or watch replays. Church in jammies with coffee. I do meet with other Christians at least weekly, just not for service.
I almost never make it to church on time, and with a family as an excuse, I’m even later. Or at least, I was, back when I could go to church. I knew it really came down to not being enough of a priority–I said church was important but yet I made it on time to work, and almost never to church. Now for about the last 8 months I’ve been unable to go to church most Sundays because of a change in work schedule, and I realize how much I took that privilege for granted. I missed out on so much congregational singing–one of my all-time favorite things–just because I couldn’t bother to get up a bit earlier. Now I long to be able to go join even one song.
Practical tips such as you share here are important, particularly, I’m sure, as a family gets bigger. But I can tell you that I couldn’t have been bothered to try most of them. My problem was a slothful, self-centered, entitled attitude (though I dressed it in nicer clothes.) I can’t say getting to church on time will be easy, once I’m able to go again. But now that I don’t take it for granted, now that I view it as something I may not get to do again, on the rare occasions I do get to go now I find much more energy to do what it takes to get there on time. Hmmm…
Not exactly the angle you are looking at here, but it’s been on my mind lately.
This post made me laugh because I have been there! Am often there… Lately, we have actually had no problem getting to church on time- largely because the kids are old enough to dress themselves (4 kids ages 5-10). We have to leave around 9:40 for church, so I send everyone upstairs to get ready at 9:00. Games, toys, books- they get put away until you are ready to go, shoes and all. (Hint… parental inspection required! Saves the last minute “you’re not wearing a red dress, purple shoes, and lime green socks to church” on the way out the door). I actually serve breakfast an hour later than normal so I can sleep in or rest on Sundays, but I do keep it easy: pancakes, waffles, or French toast. One other thing that keeps my joy on Sunday mornings is to have zero tolerance for fussing, bickering, whining. If it even starts, you are sent back to bed for 15 minutes. Peace in the household!
Great post!! Such a noble topic. I’m married to a military man whose family of origin seemed to be trying ‘to beat God to church’!! ;) I, on the other hand, was raised in a family that lived 8 min. from the church building and still managed to >a-hem< … 'not be early'…. Add to that my Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder: Severe Late Sleep Phase Disorder. As if that weren't enough, I also have a skin condition that requires about an hour of uncomfortable 'attention' every morning. Suffice it to say, Sunday mornings are extreeemely difficult for me.
I am blessed with a husband who is willing to help, especially since he understands the significant challenges Sunday mornings are for me. Since our oldest child was about three months old, my husband has taken 100% responsibility for getting himself and our children completely ready on Sundays. He even ensures my breakfast is ready, and often chooses my clothes! (He's great at it — and I'm not — so I appreciate this deeply!) WHAT!A!GUY!!!!!
Truth: Somehow, even with **this much help**, I still managed to make us late often, frustrating everyone involved.
Sorry to say that it took t-h-i-r-t-e-e-n years into our marriage before I decided I needed to adopt a different approach. All along I had been 'trying so hard' to hit the bar of being on time. "Trying so hard!" "Trying so hard!" [Picture an elementary age child jumping for the monkey bars – and not making it – actually, ever, really….]
Finally I got MAD ENOUGH at myself to take a heart inventory. Do I, or do I not love the Lord? Am I willing to obey His instruction to submit to and follow the elders/leaders of my congregation when they say 'assemble' (1 Pet. 5:5, et. al.)? Do I believe this is in the best interest of everyone involved? Do I believe this is part of being an excellent wife, the heart of whose husband can trust in her, and who does him good and not evil (Prov. 31:10-12)? My answers to these questions revealed that I absolutely was committed to making a change. Now, how to do it??!
I decided I was much more likely to reach that 'bar', the standard of being on time, if I were to come down on it from way above!! I started setting my alarm a full hour earlier than I had been, determining to use any extra minutes in prayer, peaceful meditation, and smiling at my dear husband and children, with my goal being to beat them all to the car and be sitting there *in my right mind* when they were ready to go. LOL!! Now, isn't that a noble goal?? :D
There are still Sunday mornings when things go wrong, despite my best efforts (which begin FRIDAY evening, for me — especially in the food prep department). Occasionally, enough things go wrong that I'm still the hold-up :( , but the change in our Sunday mornings has been dramatic. I don't really have 'extra time', as it turns out; what I do have is a more sensible, calm experience with time for a few hugs and kisses – and a more leisurely breakfast that doesn't send my stomach into convulsions, although I have found that getting up that extra hour earlier means I need to add more healthful fats to my breakfast so my stomach isn't rumbling through the sermon! :)
Two sleep allowances have been made in our family, in order to make it possible for me to achieve my Sunday morning goals. First, my husband and I have agreed that my singular Sunday afternoon resonsibility is to complete the second half of my night's sleep, since the early (for me) morning means Saturday nights I get 2-3 hrs. sleep. Second, we block off Monday as a 'recovery' day for me.
Wow, hope the long comment isn't a problem for anyone…. I know: "Get your own blog!" ~giggle~ Thanks for posting on yet another important topic. Keep up the good work!!
My hubby is a pastor, so it’s kind of important that we’re not late to church. ;) We are both up by 6 and get the kids up close to 7 so that we can leave by 8:30. I shower as soon as I’m up in the AM–don’t leave the room at all until after I’ve showered, because invariably, I’m needed as soon as it’s known I’m up and at ’em, making it challenging to get back in there with time enough to bathe! I lay the kids clothes out, and my own, the night before, right down to the underwear and shoes. My hubby irons anything that needs it, and he helps line up the boy’s buttons, straighten ties, etc., while I do girls’ hair. The team effort is a huge help! We also always eat leftovers or something VERY simple for Sunday lunch, both to save prep time in the morning and because we’re all just so ready for naps when we get home in the afternoon anyway. :) Also, we invite guests over on the other 6 days, but not Sundays. That felt so weird to me as a pastor’s wife at first, but I have really come to appreciate why my hubby feels it’s important to simplify our Sundays and focus on being prepared for the services.
I am looking forward to reading comments on this one Laura! Great topic.
Here is what works for us most Sundays. We have kids 2-8 years with #5 coming next week.
Set the goal of being at church ridiculously early. For me that is 9:00 when we don’t have to be there until 9:30. That’s basically it. If my goal is 9:00, and I’m working diligently toward that goal, I *usually* make it by 9:15. :)
As far as attitude goes, I now choose to be kind and patient OVER being to church on time (and my hubby is the pastor, so it draws attention when we are late.) I DO NOT want to be the “crazy mom” pushing everyone out the door grumpily and then smiling as if I’m “mom of the year” when I hit the church entrance. Hypocrisy is an ugly thing, and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve been there, and it completely isn’t worth it for the sake of appearances.
Also, mints are a good motivation for our children to gather near the back door to leave. Kids come running from everywhere when we get out the mints. No nagging. Special Sunday treat. Fabulous.
We like to grab hands and pray right before we leave the door too. It helps keep the reason we have gotten up and rushed around in perspective – it’s all about Jesus, not us and our matching outfits and styled hair. HE is our focus. So easy to forget that in the madness!
We JUST had this conversation AGAIN this past Sunday. I had though removing all gaming systems, computer keyboard and putting breakfast out for them was enough but… NO! So, this week, I will remove the tv remote as well.
I had this conversation with the kids last week ON the WAY to church…. We go to church every sunday. There is never a sunday where it’s a surprise that you have to get ready…. so, we expect you to get dressed, eat breakfast and have your shoes ON each sunday (just like on school days!). Once you’re all ready to go, you have free time until Dad says “get in the car!”.
I’m sure this coming week will be easy breezy, right? LOL
ps LOVE the mints idea. I think I’ll use that!
I actually wrote a tongue-in-cheek post about this entitled 5 Ways to Be Late to Church – http://girlstogrow.blogspot.com/2012/10/5-ways-to-be-late-to-church.html
Thankfully we’ve conquered some of these obstacles….though we still have Sundays when we’re running a few minutes late! Wondering if there will be new challenges when I have two teenage girls using one bathroom to get ready….
The key to 2 teenage girl is to get them a make-up mirror for their room. Leave the bathroom for only things that require water (and the kitchen can be used to brush teeth too). We only had one bathroom growing up and we always did hair and make-up in our room and I do that now too since we only have 1 bathroom and 5 kids.
I will definitely remember this tip!! Thanks!
Marry a husband who likes to be an early bird! I came from a family who was always cutting it close, so my husband has helped me with that. He sets a target time that leaves room to spare. He does a lot to help too. Our daughters are 1, 3 and 5. He will often help get breakfast together on Sundays and usually dresses the baby.
We’ve got 6 (#7) on the way ages 2-11. We usually get to church 5 minutes early. I always wondered how families got to early church when I was single, but then becoming a mom I realized how easy it is to be at church at 9 when all you kids wake up by 6:30!
The oldest 3 are responsible for getting themselves ready, cereal, teeth and dressed and the 3 younger ones get help from the parents. Everyone needs to be downstairs going to the bathroom and getting shoes on 15 min. before church starts, it takes 5 minutes to get there and we usually end up 5 minutes early. I find the older my kids get, the easier it is. When I had 3 under 4 it was much harder to get out the door calmly and on time since everyone needed help with shoes and inevitably someone would have a dirty diaper just as we were walking out. During those years I made sure to give myself at least a 15 minute extra cushion since I KNEW those things were going to pop up.
I heard my pastor (1 of 6) talk about growing up. He said his dad would never be late and knew the exact time they needed to leave to get there in time. If the family wasn’t ready they waited until the next Mass to go. And the dad had everyone just sit and wait all ready until it was time to go. He said it only happened once or twice before all of them got the message to be ready on time!
I have 4 kids – ages 10 months, 3, 5 and 7. My husband is part of the church leadership which means he has meetings starting at 7am every Sunday morning, which leaves me on my own to get everyone (and myself) ready and to church by 10am. The hard part is the timing – our kids are up by 6am, and if they got dressed for church right away there is no chance that their suits would still be clean come 10am! While there are many parenting areas I have not mastered, being on time is actually one I do well in.
The secret to Sunday church (and all other commitments) is keeping in my mind that getting ready is its own part of the schedule. For example, an adult might think of getting ready for church as part of the activity of church. For me, I actually allot time in my schedule just for getting ready.
I also always aim for getting anywhere 15 minutes ahead of time. So church doesn’t start at 10am, it starts at 9:45am. So if we’re not getting in the car by 9:30 (it’s a 7 minute drive) then that’s when my “we’re going to be late” starts to kick in, instead of “well, we still have 30 minutes.)
best advice i can give is to pray about it!
we have 2 boys (3 and 5) and we used to be late a lot. i prayed about it and God answered in a way i didn’t expect. God has blessed us with a 5 year old who is very sensitive and get’s overwhelmed easily. if his sunday school room is already full of kids and loud and chaotic, there is no way he’s going in (not to mention there is a sobbing meltdown in the hall because he wants to go to class, but can’t handle it at that point). so, we have to be early. yep, it’s that simple. God gave us a son who has to be there before the rest of the kids so that he can be eased into it. i have to get up an hour early, we have to eat an easy breakfast and we have to be in the car 20 minutes before church (even though we only live 5 minutes away). God has been so good to help us develop good habits and give us calm hearts on Sunday mornings. praise be to our God, who so faithfully answers our prayers, though it’s often not how we expect.
My biggest thing is I don’t worry about clothes. My kids wear the same thing they wear to school to church. If its clean and covers what it needs to then fine. I know some feel its important to dress up, but I grew up in a home where it was always “what will people think” when we wanted to dress casual for church and I want my kids to focus on “what does God think” and I think he is happy when we all make it to church!
My family used timers for the bathroom growing up as there were 5 of us and 1 bathroom. And anything other than using the toilet and showering and shaving got done in the bed room, get girls and guys alike a long mirror and table or dresser for their beauty products and place near an electric outlet.
And if mornings are the issue, rethink when you go to church. My parents often go on Thursday night, it opens up their weekends to travel if they want. Churches nowadays have more options for services than before. Or watch online.
My sons are disabled and just being in the church building can be overwhelming to the point of pain for them. So although we try to go it often is only for a few minutes and then back home. We take my daughter separately because she is fine to be in church the whole hour plus. Sometimes we stay at home and watch the service online, plus we can watch it another day if that is best, and the kids are more comfortable in their home, where they can get up and move if they need to.
Great post Laura, going to bed early on Saturday helps! We do smoothies in the morning, soo much easier and everybody loves them! We are usually on time sometimes early. (2 adults, 4 girls (who require hair done for which I allow about 1/2 hour)
I thought it was tough to get an infant and a toddler/pre-schooler ready for church on time – and then my church had to split to 2 Sunday morning services. Instead of 10am service (9am Sunday School), it’s now 8:30 and 11. My husband often serves at the early service (and sometimes at both services), so now we have to get out the door at 8am (sometimes 7:30), ready to be away the whole morning – with a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old!
I was getting so stressed out. I was already doing as much prep as I could the night before, and it just wasn’t enough. Step ONE was to change my attitude. Do we want to be on time for church? Of course. But which is more important: to be “on time”, stressed out and yelling at each other, or to be a few minutes late, maybe miss some singing, but have a quiet heart that is ready to worship? My husband helped me to remember WHY we go to church. Not to be seen, or to check off our to-do lists – but to worship God. If we are running too late, my husband can go separately and we can take the time needed to collect ourselves and go to the late service instead.
Step two was to ask my husband to help with the kids on Sunday mornings. He was perfectly willing to, I just needed to ask.
You know what? Since we figured that out, we haven’t been “late” even once! ;)
Such a true thing!! My husband and I have talked about that for years, how on the Lord’s day, you end up grouchy and running to make it on time, yet for most other things like work and fun events and things, it seems so much easier to make it on time and in a cheerful mood. Kind of sad, but I believe it is definitely a choice. ;) Every morning my husband and I take a little time to have coffee together so on Sundays, we have coffee a little earlier and that helped and we still get that down time together. Another way that seems to help us get to church early (strangely enough) is when we have somewhere to be after church and have to have all the chores done and everything loaded ahead of time! It forces us to think ahead about Sunday morning and makes it far less stressful. :)
4 children- now all teens. When they were younger, we just mad sure they got to be on time saturday night, got up early on sunday, knew ahead of time what they were going to wear and made the day fun- joyful. Of course, having a 20 yr military dad who holds punctuality sacred helped. The kids learned quickly… husband has that military type of voice. :))
My husband is the pastor so we are rarely late, but this wasn’t always the case. We have two teenage sons and it is much easier now. I do find that doing as much as I can do on Saturday is the most helpful, and the crock pot is my best friend to use for our lunch on Sundays. We are usually the first to arrive at church but we are also the last to leave the church so everyone is usually starving before we get home…and with lunch in the crock pot or two crock pots we are ready to eat in a very short time when we get home. Crock pots save me time so I can enjoy an afternoon of rest and relax as God would have me do on His Day Of Rest.
I’ve found giving my girls back scratches and back rubs while telling them sweet things about them is usually a good way to get them started. (Like, “you’re a sweet girl, you’re a nice girl, you’re a fun girl, I like you” and so on) They wake up sweet and wanting to please you when you ask them to hurry.
Here’s a mind bender: forget “on time”! I seem to be able to get *anywhere* either early or late, but rarely “on time”. I think it’s b/c “on time” is such a small window of time! If I’m off by so much as 5 minutes, we’re LATE! So unrealistic to think my family will be successful with that. I had to get over my perfectionistic tendency to think we could make it “on time” at exactly 9:25 (for a 9:30 service). Far better to plan to leave “too early” and have plenty of time for all the life that inevitably happens on the way out the door or if we manage to avoid the drama (which is rare) we get extra time to walk into church or talk with friends outside. Yay! :)
Our church started a Saturday 5pm service a year ago. While I was very hesitant to make the change from Sunday 9am to Saturday 5pm, it didn’t take long for me to see the immense value!!!! We arrive to church early AND in a good mood :). We also have come to love sleeping in or having a lazy Sunday morning with the family! Now, when our schedule doesn’t permit the Saturday night service, we do opt for 9am, but it’s tough!!!
We have three boys, 8 months, 2, and 5. We just started attending a church about 45 minutes away, so we have to get out the door. I have clothes for all of us ready the night before, bottles and diaper bags ready for the two youngest kids, and snacks ready to go. One thing we do is let them eat in the car. I’ll give them dry cereal or something that doesn’t make a mess to eat while we are driving. So far this has worked well, but we are hoping to start going to an adult bible fellowship class which is even earlier, so we will see what happens.
“stop talking so that you can stuff food down your face”. That’s the funniest thing because I pretty much say that to my youngest every morning! Ha!
I thought it was stressful to get babies/toddlers ready on time for church. Let me just say that getting 3 teenage daughters out the door on time, is no walk in the park. (We have 3 bathrooms, but they tend to congragate and use only one.)
They lay out their clothes the night before, but for some strange reason by the time they wake up, the outfit seems all wrong. Or their hair is “doing something weird”…
When dad suggests (through gritted teeth) that they “throw on any old thing and get going”, he is met with blank stares. I think its time for another family meeting to discuss priorities…
p.s They are GREAT kids. :)
We struggle with this, too, since we live 45 minutes away from our church. We leave an hour early so we have plenty of time to buckle car seats, and get kids to classes before our Sunday school class starts. We lay out clothes the night before (I even try on my outfit on sat. to make sure I am comfortable and feel it looks appropriate). I also try to have something like muffins or a quick bread made to just pull out of the freezer Sat. night to thaw for the morning. I do a lot of prepping for my kiddos-toothpaste on toothbrush, etc. to make it a little easier for them to be successful in managing their time. We also found that our normally slow 9 year old loves to get our 2 1/2 year old dressed, so this has helped to get herself ready. Our 6 year old is speedy, and just likes being the first one ready! I also try to pack snacks and have my tea ready the night before.
I think I start getting into my “Sunday worship” frame of mind around sundown Saturday. It’s kind of nice, actually. Like preparing my heart and mind for Sunday. We have come a long way, but it is still hard to have a restful day, when you have 3 kids, most of whom are ALWAYS HUNGRY!:)
I am thankful that our church has a Saturday night service! My husband is an assistant pastor and has to be at the church an hour or sometimes three before the boys and I need to be there. When our second son was born 16 months ago (and our first son was 15 months old!) I knew that there was no way I would be able to get everyone ready (and down a flight of stairs and all the way to the car in our condo complex) on my own and be to church by 10:30am on Sunday morning! I am just now considering going back to the Sunday services… but our church is growing so much (praise the LORD!) that our pastor has requested more people attend Saturday. :-)
Oh, and if it is ok- here is our radio station: 897gracefm.com :-)
We only have one child and she’s still a toddler so it’s not too tough to get to church on time. The toughest part is she’s not used to getting up that early – with a stay-at-home parent she can sleep later on most mornings. That said, we usually get up, shower and get dressed, then get her up and dressed (bath the night before). We *try* to get her to eat beforehand, but she’s not much of an early morning eater, so we make sure we take a sippy cup and snacks (thank God for Cheerios and fruit snacks) so she’s not too hungry and cranky by the time we get out. Then we go home and have a big breakfast.
It really isn’t that hard. I have 12 kids aged 0-14. I make sure we have clothes and shoes ready the day before. We usually have breakfast at 7:00 or so. Breakfast is simple, cold cereal and milk (Sunday is the only day they get that, so it’s a treat for them) Everyone gets themselves ready after breakfast and helps with the little ones before they do anything else. We are usually ready long before 9:30 when we need to leave.
We struggle with getting to church on time as well. We have six kiddos who just love to “mess around” in the mornings. We have recently changed churches and I have noticed that my older kids are actually excited to go to church! This excitement makes them motivated to get ready on time because our church is 30 minutes away. Now, if only I could get the younger three to follow the older three’s lead…..
Hebrews 10:25. And as you teach your children daily about Jesus and the word you are installing your values on them therefore, you tell them age appropriate words, of course, about the importance of being a good Stewart of not only money but your time. You let them know you need their help. Always age appropriate, of course.
You as mom and dad are their examples in everything you do and say. You should be excited to join other believers for encouragement, support and worshiping our Living King. If not, you may be just worn out from the cares and burdens of this world.
Then you need to step back and see what you can take off your plate. Your husband and children are always first no matter what someone says! So. Your things you are doing now are right on!
If they go to school, birthday parties, athletic events, are they on time? If your children are pre-school and/or toddlers, you and dad are the ones who have to handle it all. You are already tired from the week so try to plan an easy Saturday for yourself. Get relatives, friends, neighbors to help out if only for an hour. The encouraging person of Jesus sees it all! What a comfort! I do not have to tell you to seek Him first. But, this day of worship is critical for the test of the week, especially in our days. Praise Him even if you are late. Kick satan by being determined, and relying and asking Him for wisdom and guidance! He is so worthy of our praise in the good and bad and ugly!
Sunday mornings are very challenging for us as we are night owls and love to hang out and all as a family. Some times we are traveling to a nearby bigger city to do our Costco and Whole Foods and sometimes Trader Joe’s shopping. If we actually get to bed at a decent time that helps. We don’t do anything fancy for breakfast. I usually get up a little earlier to get my husbands coffee going, get our son dressed and breakfast in front of him, and then into the shower for me. My husband has a slower than molasses speed so he is the one that takes more pushing to get out the store, but then some times he surprise me and is read super fast. We are getting to church earlier and more on top so we can give our son more time with his Sunday school class. Nothing spectacular but just give try to give ourselves a buffer to get ready and out the door. Great post! We all have struggles in some way or another!
We do all the usual…set out clothes, easy breakfast, mom gets up early, hubby helps. But what makes the most difference is that we communicate Saturday night about what time we need to leave by, we often need to be at church at various times to prepare for stuff. The we set our departure time 1/2 hour before we need to be there…18 minutes to drive and get into the building; 12 minutes to get in the car. Sometimes we surprise ourselves and it only takes 8 minutes to get into the car, but 12 seems to be our average! Kids ages 5, 2 and 7 months = lots of car seats!
Sunday mornings have always been hard for me, but they got especially hard since we added baby #2 (my kids are now almost 2 and almost 4). My husband USED to make pancakes on Saturday morning just as a fun tradition, but since he saw that my Sunday mornings were very hectic, he volunteered to cook pancakes on Sunday mornings instead! And he usually does what he can to clean the kitchen and get the boys ready to go for the day! OH MY GOODNESS!!!! It has allowed me to enjoy Sundays again! It’s like I get a day “off” (even if it is just the morning). So, so blessed! (And I think my husband is happy that I’m not so grumpy/frustrated on Sunday mornings anymore!)
All great ideas, thanks everyone!
Sometimes I know in advance that I won’t have time on Saturday to make breakfast for Sunday. We have at times actually made Sunday breakfast earlier in the week. Muffins are often made on a weekday and put in the freezer. Pull them out on Saturday night when I got to bed and we’re all set!
I would also add that we “try” to get to bed on time, if not early for my husband and I on Saturday night. No late home projects or staying up with a movie/late-night TV or activity that keeps us out past bedtime. Those things we fit into our Friday nights. It sure helps to get up early or on-time on Sunday when we’ve gotten the proper rest!
Well, first of all we are blessed to have a cafe’ at church where it’s always been a treat to eat breakfast. No-one has to prepare breakfast, and we are “allowed” to eat treats we don’t always have at home (and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, of course, which is a high priority here in New England).
I always put out my clothes the night before (any day I have to go out), and encourage my family to do so, also. My two teenage sons are not “forced” to put out their clothes, as long as they don’t come complaining to Mom in the morning because they can’t find something to wear. We have also recently concluded that Sunday mornings are NOT a good time for the guys to shower (except for my husband who is in and out in 5 minutes tops).
The main thing that helps us to be on time is having the goal of being there at least twenty minutes early to get something to eat. This gives us such a big cushion, we are almost never late.
Last, but certainly not least, my husband takes over “family management issues” on Sunday morning so that I can get ready (God bless him!).
We are currently working on maintaining our positive “Christian” attitudes on Sunday morning, because as everyone knows, we will be tested, tried and tempted especially on this important day, because Somebody doesn’t want us to go. When all of the above occur, and I remember to NOT get distracted doing other things around the house, we have no problem getting there on time.
Literally, I start praying Saturday night to get to church on Sunday. Even when it’s hard, if I’ve prayed for God to get me there, it’s amazing how it works out.