SHORTHAND | Quick Thoughts for a Busy World

No Need For Sunday

by Leave a Comment

No Need for Sunday
A poem by Kiani S. Atkinson 
There are some days when I wish there was no Sunday.
When I wish that every day was like Sunday,
A day to relax and recharge, forgetting about your troubles.
Then, there would be no need for Sunday.
I wish there was no need for Sunday.
I wish there was no greed,
Because without greed, there would be no need for wars.
No need for governments, with politics.
I wish there was no famine.
I wish there were no wars.
I wish that there were no children crying in the night,
Wondering who they are and why they are here.
I wish that everyone knew what their purpose was.
I wish that everyone would stop thinking about their own problems,
And start thinking about other’s.
I wish there was a world where there was no need for Sunday.
But that world doesn’t exist, and it can’t exist, will never exist,
Unless people realize that even the smallest effort could help change our world.
That kindness and generosity are more important than wealth and fame.
This is a world where there is a need for Sunday,
But Sunday isn’t really even Sunday anymore.
It’s just another day,
Not any more different than Monday and Tuesday.
It’s not more unique than Wednesday or Thursday,
Nor is it a better day than Friday and Saturday.
Sunday is just Sunday.
And there will always be wars,
Because there will always be greed.
There is always a government. With politics.
There is always a child crying in the night, wondering who they are.
There is always someone wondering why there are here,
What their purpose is.
There is always someone pondering the meaning of life.
There will always be hunger and strife.
There will always be selfishness and greed.
People will continue to treat Sundays as just another day.
Unless they realize that as long as they exist, there will always be a need for Sunday. For peace.

This poem written by a sweet 16 year old friend touched me. With her permission I share it. I love her compassion. I love her humanity.

It also got me thinking about how I use the Sabbath day. Do I use it to serve those that are suffering? Do I use it to find peace and bring peace to those who don’t know where to find it?

The more I thought about this poem the more my hear wanted to exclaim to the world: Do you know where to find peace? Do you know of Jesus who came to earth to bring us this peace? And to use my time on the Sabbath day to do just that — and basically every day.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

When these thoughts settled I could feel my heart settle deep within my soul into the truth that I hold dear: We will always need Sunday until everyone accepts Jesus. With his light the world will change.

And when everyone accepts Jesus and feels his peace, then everyday will be like Sunday.

Oh glorious day! One day.

How will you use your Sunday?

Service with Friends

by 2 Comments

As a homeschooling mother the summers are hard for me. I am used to having my kids all to myself until at least 3pm each day. So when the sun comes up and my kids are already itching to go see if their friends can play and that continues until 8pm, I kind of lose it. It is just too much friend time and not enough family time.

I think my struggle is in wanting to know that their time is being well spent. Yes, play is part of life, but there is more to life than play.

In my desperation I called for a non-friend week to solve the problem. That came with a lot of bad attitudes. Understandable.

I only had one rule.

~They could only hang out with friends if I was with them and we were doing service.~

Well that motivated them like nothing else.

We ended up having a great week. My hunger for time with them was filled. I felt good that they couldn’t just run off and be gone for hours. I loved that we were serving together.

I have lifted the ban on hanging out with friends without me with one stipulation: whenever they hang out with friends they have to find a way to do service during that time or they can’t hang out. That’s it.

I have seen the look on the faces of their friends when I have suggested this. One even asked me if Indy will still need to do this once he is old enough to move out of the house… I replied, “I sure hope he would always want to.”

I can imagine a world where the youth are service minded. Where they know when they are together it is to do good. Where they do good even without their parents at their side.

I realize I am raising the bar, but I think it would do us all good if we raised it together and expected more of our already good natured children. Service can be a normal part of childhood and play. They are capable of it and it will help them to become the leaders they are meant to be.

 

5 Minute Clean Up

by Leave a Comment

Want to know what cleaning up looks like at my house? Well let me paint a picture.

Every hour on the hour starting at 10am an alarm goes off. A special 5-minute mix of the song Mission Impossible starts playing. Immediately everyone sits up and looks to me. What do we need to clean?

I look around, the living room is filled with toys, dirty clothes and shoes out of place, crumbs and books. I exclaim, “The living room!”

The willing troops enlist and scramble because 20 seconds have already passed and they know they need to have the living room clean before the song ends.

Someone is putting the books away, another is sweeping, the others are picking up things and putting them where they belong. I am helping.

About 3 minutes pass and the living room is tidy enough to call good, but why stop there? No we keep going tending to all the details.

Then we hear the signal that the song is about to come to an end, everyone is scrambling. Hurrying to make it count. And then it ends.

“How did we do?” We all take a look around and everyone feels satisfied with their efforts and the results. We high-five!

Another token is earned. Tokens are rewarded at the end of the day by their father who is very glad they are helping mother who used to feel all alone and didn’t know how to motivate the kids to help her clean. One token per task done well. I usually pick one room to clean for the full five minutes, although we have done other things like wiping doorways, laundry, loading and unloading the dishes and so on.

They just recently experienced the fruits of their labors when they reached over 100 tokens that allowed them to buy a movie. They could have rented it for 35 tokens, but together they decided to save up for their goal.

The picture I painted above is the norm, although there are times when some kids or even all kids decide they just don’t want to clean. I choose to remain loving and don’t stress. I don’t hold a carrot before them reminding them of their token goal. I just wait until the next hour when the timer goes off. Sometimes they are just in a funk and it passes.

If we are in the car, I have them take a minute to say sorry to each other for hurt feelings and to think about how they can clean up their hearts. We have used this to get ready to leave and for bedtime.

We even use this at friends’ homes and did so during a service project where we were cleaning for a new mom.

I will have to get a video of it one day to share with you.

If you love this idea, I encourage you to pick a song that is about 5 minutes in length and set it as your alarm for every hour on the hour, or every other hour, and come up with something to save up for with your kids. Then when the alarm goes off each hour, pick one room or big task to do together. Be excited with them. Do your part too. Then make sure to end with high-fives and hugs to celebrate a job well done.

I have found that involving their father in the accountability really makes a difference. I have heard this from others too. And make sure they have an opportunity to clean with their dad on the weekends and maybe once before bedtime.

That’s it! Happy cleaning. (That used to be an oxymoron in my home, but not anymore!)

To see a time lapse of a successful mission, click here. 

“O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.” ~Alma 29:1

And yet, consider all that he did do. He had such an incredible reach and so much success in sharing the gospel. The Lord allotted him so many wonderful opportunities to share the gospel. Inspiring. 

Daily Rhythm

by Leave a Comment

Wake up with the sun

Connect with your Father in Heaven

Get ready for the day

Improve your talents

Develop new talents

Serve others

Family time

Report to your Heavenly Father

Sleep and dream

~At the end of the day, it isn’t if you did each of these things, but rather evaluating the effort you put into them.

Can I Do Your Dishes?

by Leave a Comment

My dad passed away. My husband left the next day for an international business trip. I felt alone with my 6 kids and a funeral to plan.

Then a friend passed by to bring me a loaf of fresh bread. Heaven.

Then she asked me, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Instantly everything I had to do came to mind. I didn’t know what to ask her to do; I just knew what I had to do.

The dishes, the laundry and clean the whole house for guests and somehow get around to making the funeral program. I was overwhelmed.

Then she said, “Can I do your dishes?”  Yes.

While she did my dishes, I held her baby—a gift to someone who is done having babies.

At the same time, another friend came by asking if she could help me finish the funeral program. Yes.

Is there anything I can do for you? Yes… Give me something to say yes to, because you know I need the help, but am too overwhelmed to know where I need it most.

Popular Posts

Archives