Savoring Saturdays

Autumn rains pouring forth outdoors,
wood fire crackling inside,
the lodge is hushed from the usual comradere of littles,
  and the clamor of a big household.
 I adore Saturdays.
 This is the day of the week I often look forward to the most.
 The day where my cozy, nesty side comes out
and gets to putter about, which I find romantic.

First of all, I love Saturdays because it is a great opportunity to pamper my family a bit.
The children get to sleep in.
This means a quiet, slow morning for me,
(and Olivia, who is always my alarm clock being the morning person she is).
The boys awaken to the weekly radio programs at Moody Radio,
 which they listen to in their room
while I make the children a big ol breakfast full of scrumptious yummies
to celebrate the arrival of the weekend.
We have worked hard all week,
and today is a special day
unlike the other weekdays.

I take great comfort in this a weekly ritual.
It is something to look forward to.
We are creating something special and beautiful out of the ordinary.
I like that.

Few things in life give me more pleasure than setting a nice table for my family,
and filling it with homemade food.

My boys think hashbrowns or fried potatoes are one of the most marvelous of foods.
Therefore, each Saturday breakfast will be slightly different, but always contain potatoes.
This week, a hearty  skillet breakfast and fresh milk for starters.

Today my pampering included Doughnuts...hot from the oven.
They are incredibly easy to make and have fast become a favorite in our home.
First the dough.

Then the frying.

 Next the glaze.

  At last into mouths!

The little ones have their own Saturday rituals as well.
 We have a special music CD they only listen to this day.
 It is full of Sunday School songs and Bible Club songs like we sang when I was growing up.
 They start their day dancing.
 They sing.

  They play dress up.
They take turns hiding.
They sense this is a special play day, and make the most of it.

The second reason I love Saturdays is this:
After breakfasting, each child  is given a housecleaning chore.
 Saturdays are for housecleaning,
 and we all work together to get the job done.
 By each one taking a chore, we get the majority of the work done in around an hour.
  This day, Rose and Caleb cleaned the kitchen,
 Joe folded and put away the laundry...which had been stacking up on the couch upstairs..
so quite a pile for him!
 Jim vacuumed the rugs and helped Ben with the bathrooms.
 Bethany, Gabe and even Olivia get in the spirit
and help wash surfaces such as the frig, dining chairs, doors and door handles, light switches.
  I sweep and mop.
Then go about finishing my list;
 washing windows, dusting, changing beds, tidying surfaces,
setting out a different table centerpiece, rearranging this and that,
what I call puttering.

This again is one reason I love Saturdays.
The house getting clean and tidy,
 restored to order and thus beautified,
  a marvelous part of homemaking that I take great joy in.
Making a clean and lovely home for my family is giving (it, the home) life.
It is this spirit of a home that the wife and mama makes,
filling the house with her own spirit,
 and pouring out a sweet pleasant fragrance,
 which is a ministry to her family and all who enter.

The children, done with their chores, return to their play, or watch a movie,
 leaving me, again, in relative quiet.
Often, I find this the perfect opportunity for that
time alone with God
 that I have been needing.
Time to write in my journal of 1000 gifts,
time to reflect and make sure my heart is right.
Here is my third reason for my love and anticipation of a beautiful Saturday at home,
rarely during the week do I find this kind of time available to me for the taking.
Aaaah, God is good!

The evening is made up of a simple dinner,
 baths for the littles,
clothing laid out and ironed for Sunday,
and all to bed early, so that we are prepared and rested for the Lord's Day.


Here is the why of our Saturday rituals:
It is the way we live each day of our life that make up the tone and color of how we live in this world.
We can make it to be vivid and rich, sweet and pleasant,
 or not.

JR Miller writes it so well,
"What is true of our individual lives is true also of our homes.  
We are making memories day by day and year by year,
 and what they shall be in the future  will depend 
on the home life we are living now."


God created women to give life,
 to be helpmeets,
to nurture,
to imitate Him in beautifying all that is around us.
 When we seek to cultivate these passions He has built in us,
we find that contentment, that peace, that inner joy that delights in the smallest things.
And there, as these aspects grow and flourish,
overflowing from what is in our hearts all along, out to our families,
we live in the beauty of the Lord.