The Evolution of My Rest Day Sabbath Prep

How my preparation for Sundays and a true sabbath is evolving and why I prioritize and look forward to Rest Day Prep.

I didn’t grow up observing a sabbath. My dad was a workaholic, and my mom did the best she could to solo parent five kids. She took us to church and made an effort at a fun lunch, but that was about it.

When I grew up, the idea of taking a day off was really a foreign concept. I was a student, then a school teacher, then a mom. There was always something to do.

We might go to church and even have friends over for a meal, but taking a day of true rest wasn’t a thing.

Almost ten years ago while reading the Ten Commandments (not for the first time), I became convicted that my work life (as a mom, homeschooler, and writer) was just too much. I also realized that I was being disobedient to God in not taking a day off.

Obviously, one cannot take a true day off from parenting — and I don’t think that’s what God means anyway — but I started to incorporate more restful activity into my Sundays. I started planning a rest day each week. And it was bliss!

However, the drift of workaholism is real, and while I still spent Sunday doing what I wanted, a lot of my Sunday was spent on meal prep and my home reset, in an effort to start off our week on a positive note.

It was restful-ish.

Then two things happened to switch things up.

Remembering It’s for Rest

First I read Spacemaker by Daniel Sih. (Here’s my full review of the book.)

In reading that book and unplugging from all social media, I wrestled with some big ideas about how I wanted to live my life. One of the answers was leaning into my life as a homemaker.

The second thing that happened not too long after that was that Bryan felt convicted that we should start observing a sabbath. Like I said, this was a pretty foreign concept to us, but we started asking questions and wondering aloud what that would look like on a practical basis.

In the process I read The Taste of Sabbath by Stuart Bryan. I found it to be very informative as well as encouraging.

Though a bit heady in terms of verbiage that you might need to reread a few times to get, the author lays out solid principles for observing the Sabbath, not in the uptight Little-House-on-the-Prairie way, but to see the Sabbath as an occasion for feasting and celebrating. 

The festal nature of the Sabbath is confirmed when we read the prophets. One of the judgments threatened against disobedient Israel was the loss of the Sabbath. “I will also cause all her mirth to cease, Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths—All her appointed feasts” (Hos. 2: 11).

The Taste of Sabbath, Stuart Bryan

(Bonus: I really love how the author focuses on principles over applications.)

Seeing Sabbath as Celebration

What is the Sabbath? Stuart Bryan says, “God made it for the benefit of man, to grant him joy and refreshment in the presence of his loving and wise Creator.”

When I think of celebrating with my family each week, I can totally get behind that. Of course, we’re celebrating God’s goodness — it’s too easy to get caught up in the means instead of the purpose.

Celebrating God’s goodness each week? I am here for it.

This is certainly not what the Ingalls family did, else the Sabbath would not have felt burdensome.

So, my rest and reset days have been reformed in the last few months.

How I Prep for True Rest Days

I’ve spent the last two months finessing my system. I imagine I will tweak it more as we go through the seasons, but currently this is what it looks like:

Food Prep

I do not do all the work myself — unless I want to. Everyone in our family is enjoying a day off, so Bryan and the kids are very willing participants.

• Sometime during the previous week I open a fresh prep page in my digital planner. It’s a simple template I made myself that I just repeat each week. You can do the same on your computer or just make a photocopy of your handwriting from week to week.
• I think through what’s going on for the weekend. Will we have company? Will a family member be gone? Are we contributing anything to church or other weekend functions?
• I keep a pretty simple meal plan on repeat: snacky dinner on Saturdays, an easy make-ahead breakfast, a crockpot lunch, and salad/grilled foods for Sunday dinner. This will change in September/October as the weather changes.
• I create a grocery list based on the meal plan, shopping my kitchen first.
• I set up a Walmart pick-up order or schedule a time to run to ALDI or Ralphs for the things we need.
• Sometime on Friday I start prepping food, including our weekly Friday pizza night since many of the ingredients carry over into Sunday meals.
• I prep all the food that can be made ahead on Friday or Saturday so that the hardest thing on Sunday is opening containers or throwing meat on the grill.
• It’s become an unplanned tradition to surprise everyone with a fun dessert each Sunday night, so I typically do that, too.

Home Prep

We really enjoy more rest when the house isn’t a wreck, so as long as I give plenty warning the kids are great about choosing household chores to do on Saturday. Usually this entails cleaning bathrooms, mopping the tile, and vacuuming the loft, stairs, and hallway.

If I have repairs or improvements to be done, Bryan is pretty quick to do those on a Saturday. He also washes cars and does garage stuff on Saturdays.

I’m enjoying making this house pretty, so I usually get fresh flowers for the weekend and try to spruce things up. FishChick15 is loving this part of Rest Day Prep and has added lots of suggestions for table settings and the like.

In fact, we’ve had a great time trying out different table settings and doing the work to learn about proper tablecloth sizes and such.

What Does Sunday Look Like?

So what do Sundays look like?

Since all the meal prep is done and the house is clean, we sleep as long as we want! Then, I throw frozen muffins into the oven if I didn’t already bake something alongside an egg bake that’s already assembled.

Breakfast is easy.

The seven of us currently attend three different churches, so everyone gets himself ready and out the door at the right time for that service. I put lunch in the crockpot, but most of the components are already prepped so it’s really “dump and go”.

Bryan and I and whichever kids want to go with us are at church from 11 to 1ish. We get home between 1 and 2 where lunch is waiting.

We eat lunch very casually, then do a quick clean-up. Since there are no prep dishes to wash, it really is easy!

The afternoon is for resting which could include books, walks, visits with friends, movies, or games.

Then FishChick15 and I lay the table for Sunday Dinner. It’s a celebration so it’s fun! And the food is made so it’s not stressful.

I originally chose Sunday night for your family dinner because it was the only time all 7 of us were home. I guess God knew a year ago that it was actually for our someday rest days. I started it casually last fall and it’s become even more fun as time goes on.

The kids usually clean up dinner, and we get ready for Monday. So far, this Rest Day Prep works for us. I know it will evolve more as the school year unfolds, but I’m so thankful that God has directed our path in this direction.

More Thoughts on Rest & Work