Warning: Political Post

Today is election day 2016... Can't wait until it's over and we can figure out which half of the country is most angry.  It's almost like waiting to see if we are entering a civil war or ushering in the apocalypse if you read much political commentary.  I think both major party candidates are very sad choices... and I just can't make myself choose which is the lesser of two evils because that's still evil.  Meh!

Here in Ritchie County, West Virginia the battle to be settled is whether or not one may hunt on Sunday.  That a personal lifestyle choice like that is even an issue in the 21st century simply stuns me, but it is a very heated ballot issue here.  Hunting is probably not how I would choose to spend my Sunday but I don't feel like I have the right to make that choice for you.  And if you can gauge the feeling in the religious community from the radio ads, that seems to be a common feeling.  I've listened to more than one pastor come out in support of allowing Sunday hunting because "time spent in nature is a wonderful way to commune with God."

And then these signs started appearing alongside the ones urging approval.  The choices are outright approval, approving Sunday hunting on private land only, and continuing the ban on it.

If you had this choice on your ballot today, how would you vote?  Why?

Even the Laundry

Photo credit: Womanhood with Purpose Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/womanhoodwithpurpose/posts
/672428669502707

There's a Facebook group that I follow called A Farm Wife where the administrator posts each day something she calls "Celebrating the Daily Ordinary" where a little thing we may be taking for granted is called out with gratitude.  One day it might be indoor plumbing, or that we have vacuums (instead of having to tie straw to a stick to sweep out our kitchen) or readily available electricity coming into our homes to power lights, appliances and entertaining toys.  You know, the things it's easy to overlook because they are just part of the everyday ordinary stuff of life.

Laundry needs to be celebrated, too!  Did you know that taking care of the laundry is even something God asks of His people?  Take a look at Exodus 19:10-11.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,

And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai."

I think it's interesting that Moses was asked to tell the people to sanctify themselves (cleanse the inner man) AND to wash their clothes (cleanse the outer man as well) in preparation for meeting the Lord.  In Church, and sometimes just in life generally, we spend a lot of time talking about the status of the inner man and about how concerned God is with the condition of our heart... as in how well we loved and cared for our fellow man... but we shy away from discussions about taking care of ourselves feeling like that is being selfish and unGodly.

But... if you take a literal look at the Lord's words in Mark 12:29-30 when He was asked about the greatest of all the commandments, He says:

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

Love thy neighbour AS THYSELF.

Part of loving yourself is taking care of your body, your home, your clothing... whatever your physical surroundings may be.  And God just told us that it's important to Him.  Very very important!

As a child I was taught a song to remind me not only about when to do them but that they were important details to take care of each week:

Saturday is a special day.

It's the day we get ready for Sunday:

We clean the house, and we shop at the store

So we won't have to work until Monday.

We brush our clothes and we shine our shoes

And we call it our get the work done day.

Then we trim our nails and we shampoo our hair

So we can be ready for Sunday.

(words and music by Rita Robinson, 1920-2011)

We always sang it 'wash our clothes' instead of brush them but the point is, we got things done during the week, and especially on Saturday, to be ready to spend Sunday - our Sabbath - with the Lord.  Isn't it wonderful to think about all our mundane daily tasks this way?  Doesn't it help to elevate them and give the things we do in the home a more proper importance?  We are doing them to prepare for our time communing with the Lord and being refreshed and re-energized by Him.

Something to think about... celebrate the ordinary daily things in life.  And do them, even the laundry, with enthusiasm!

Music for the Sabbath

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:8-11 KJV

I've been asked a few times about how I spend my time on Sunday since I've talked a little about how I see the Sabbath as set apart for God's purposes.  I get that idea from the language in the scripture above.  The Lord has asked us to hold it apart and different than the rest of the week... to keep it holy.  The Sabbath is His day to give us rest from the worldly cares we must face during the rest of the week.  And if your week is anything like mine, it has plenty of cares and that day to rest from it and focus on the things of God is a welcome and refreshing break in the routine.

(Found on Pinterest without attribution - links
to a Deseret News article)

Now, I'm not advocating that you must remain in your Sunday best church clothes and sit all prim, proper and stiff on a hard chair looking stern while a pipe organ pumps out old-time hymns.  I don't believe that's what God has asked of us.  I still cook a simple but nice evening meal, and load the dishwasher, and give the dogs food and water.  I still change a light bulb if one goes out on Sunday.  I still wipe up any spills that happen along the way.  But I don't do heavy or routine cleaning... I don't go shopping or eat in a restaurant... I don't mow the lawn.

Sunday is the day we are most likely to have a long conversation.  We visit with extended family and friends.  We take the dogs for a long walk or to the park.  You know the simpler things; the ones that make you feel like you're living a good life.

While we're in the house I also play different music than I do throughout the rest of the week.  I have what I call a Sounds of Sunday playlist for my iPod.  It makes a nice soundtrack for the day and helps me keep my focus on my Heavenly Father and what He asks of me during my Sunday.  Here's some of what I have on my playlist:

El Shaddai by Amy Grant
Down to the River to Pray by Alison Krauss and Union Station
Battle Hymn of the Republic by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
I Will Rest in You by Mindy Gledhill
The Book of Good Life by The Maccabeats
This Little Light of Mine by The Lower Lights
Love in Any Language by Sandi Patty
Broken by Kenneth Cope
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee by Michael W. Smith
His Hands by Jenny Jordan Frogley
If You Could Hie to Kolob (Instrumental) arranged by Lex de Azevedo
Rooftops by Jesus Culture
Be Still, My Soul by Vocal Point
Sempiterna by Libera
Onward Christian Soldiers by BYU Men's Chorus
I Love You Son by Joshua Creek
I Heard Him Come by Jeff Goodrich
Come Thou Font of Every Blessing by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The Lord's Prayer by Andrea Bocelli and The MoTab
Be Thou My Vision by 4Him
Live Like You Believe by Jenny Phillips
Because I Have Been Given Much by Afterglow

Obviously this isn't a complete list since iTunes tells me it will take just over 4 hours to play the entire playlist but you get the idea of the kind of music that I've included.  And it's a living breathing thing.  I'm open to suggestions for songs to add.

I hope you'll take some time to explore my playlist.  I believe all the songs by these same artists can be found on Youtube currently.  Try playing a group of them today and see if it helps you keep the Sabbath day holy and set apart as a little different (in a very good way) from the rest of the week.