There's a lot to do. Let's face it; Everyone is busy. Whether you are part of a growing family, a student, retired-empty-nesters, newlyweds - or whatever stage of life - it's almost guaranteed that there are more obligations/projects/appointments/etc. than hours in the day.
But Sunday should be different, right? We go to Mass, of course, but is that the end of Sunday's "specialness"?
In our family we make a sincere effort to have Sunday be noticeably different than the other days of the week. We are trying to keep the day holy, to rest, to strengthen our relationships (with God and our children - and each other!)
One of our favorite ways to spend Sunday afternoons is out enjoying the beauty of creation. It makes sense, doesn't it? God labored for 6 days to give us the created world, so perhaps using our day of rest to enjoy His creation is fitting?
When the weather cooperates, we go on a family hike in the mountains on Sunday.
Family hikes have value for so many reasons:
- we see sights that can't be seen from our house (or a car)
- the girls learn valuable skills - water crossings, map reading, a little bouldering, persistence, plant and animal identification, teamwork
- we keep ourselves in good physical shape
- we retreat from the normal routine of our lives (phones, computers, office - and even our home, where there is always work waiting to be done) for a few hours
- we are more aware and appreciative of creation because we're "in it" with no distractions
- we're building a family tradition... Sunday hikes are more or less expected - and even looked forward to :)
A full-blown hike wasn't possible today, but we did spend some time in a state park that is just minutes from our house. At this time of year, the campers and climbers have gone home, leaving all the sites to the locals, so we took advantage of the girls' favorite playground. Though it's quite small, they happily play here for long periods of time. Today we had the place to ourselves.
Thank you, God, for Sundays.
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