The Sabbath is a Delight- Russell M. Nelson

  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-sabbath-is-a-delight?lang=eng


   I didn't have a particular topic in mind this morning, so I chose to go to the most recent conference and start there. I have listened to all of these talks however, and the first ones more than the last. And so the last came first.
   There has been a lot of talk about the Sabbath recently. A lot of emphasis is being given to keeping the Sabbath and to Sabbath day activities. In the spirit of transparency, I will you tell you what a typical Sunday looks like around here: We get up and scramble to get read for church. Or we don't. I can't make this fully transparent without admitting to the occasional lack of drive in the morning. If we've had a particularly late Saturday night, we may roll over and keep on sleeping. Not often. But sometimes.
   Once we are ready we pile in and go to church. In sacrament meeting we wrestle our four children into behaving. Does it work? No. Do I get to hear the messages? Rarely. After closing prayer, the kids run off to primary and I head to my favorite part of church. Nursery, where I drop Lily off. A great feeling of relief comes over me and I collapse into a chair in Gospel Doctrine. Next to my husband. In the corner. Where we both play on our phones for the next hour. Sometimes we'll participate in the discussion or read a scripture, but for the most part I just don't know what is being talked about. Probably because I am not trying very hard.
   Relief Society goes one of two ways: if I am sitting next to a chatty woman, I spend the hour listening to her instead of the lesson. If I am by myself I am probably on my phone still. Giving myself some credit here, Relief Society is actually where I listen the most. I generally like the lessons and Spirit of the class.
  Once home we make nachos for lunch and eat them while watching a recorded episode of the Tonight Show. Pretty sure that isn't what Elder Nelson has in mind in terms of Sabbath worship. Next we'll go our separate ways. Kids will watch a movie upstairs, and we'll watch TV downstairs or in our room. If it's football season, Kyle will watch football and I'll take a nap. I can't even pretend I will be changing the napping part. It isn't going to happen. Best part of the Sabbath.
   Elder Nelson asks if the Sabbath is truly a delight in our homes. Is it? I don't think so. It's kind of an excuse to be lazy, because we can't go anywhere. So, how do I change that? Not just for me, but for my family. He goes on to talk about a few things we can be doing to make it count. One was teaching our children. I actually did this on Sunday. Not that I spent a great deal of time on it, but we are working towards Adam's Faith in God award, so we talked a little bit about the articles of faith. We can do family history. Third is quality family time. I like the non-specificity of that. Perhaps quality time to us is taking a nap in the same room, or watching a movie together. I kind of think he means a little more bonding type activities,
   Last was service. I have a hard time with this idea. I don't like Kyle leaving to do Home Teaching on a Sunday. I think anything that pulls him away from us on a day off isn't necessarily good. However, I was talking to Kyle about how we could get our Home and Visiting teaching done together. I was wondering if we all went in the car together to visit our families, if it would work. Maybe just being in the car would give our kids the vision of their parents serving and caring for others. And we could involve them before hand in making a treat or a hand out. I don't know. I am still workshopping that idea.
  In closing, at the beginning of the talk, Elder Nelson said he had an easy time figuring if an activity was Sunday appropriate by asking himself one question: "What sign do I want to give to God?" Do I want him to see that my own laziness is more important than the one day he asks be devoted to Him? If I can't spend one day doing what He asks of me, can I expect Him to answer my prayers? I ask a lot of my Heavenly Father, I'd hate for Him to treat me the way I sometimes treat Him. Maybe my Sundays need a makeover.