“Not too long ago, Sunday started the week.” So writes the Institute for Family Studies’ Michael Toscano in the current issue of First Things.
 
Now, he continues, “Sunday is just the worst day of the ‘weekend’…Sunday is meant for material pleasure, blowing off some steam, and recharging for Monday.”  Citing The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson, Toscano notes that work for so many has become a “kind of religion, promising identity, transcendence, and community.” With this “kind of religion” at play all around us, it’s easy for our Sundays to fall into some nearly secular version of “blowing off steam.” 
 
His words strike home for us, because already in 2022 we’ve sensed how some of our Sundays have slipped through our hands…seemingly over before they even began, not lived out with the kind of intentional plan we had hoped.
 
So, let’s ask ourselves: Is Sunday our family’s first day—an experience of rest and renewal, a glimpse of heaven in our worship, a genuine honoring of the 3^rd Commandment—or do we spend our Sundays largely like our culture, as the last day of the weekend?
 
As this year begins, now is the time to wrestle with these pivotal questions. And in the third week of each month, as we turn our focus to the 3^rd level of your Trinity House, or Household Economy, we have a strategy to suggest.
 
Push back on the culture and treat the work in your week as subordinate to Sunday, the first day. Specifically, get your household work done (yes, we know it’s never really done!) by Saturday evening, as a concrete way to help your family re-enthrone Sunday as the first day of the week.
 
With this strategy in mind, here are a few approaches that we suggest:   

• As you plan your week, ask, “How will this task, event, or invitation impact my family’s celebration of the Sabbath?” Get better as saying “no” if it’s something that will cut into Sunday.    
• Map out a plan with your spouse to get pieces of the housework done throughout the week.
• Develop a family chore day (or morning or afternoon) of shared work on Saturdays. Motivate your team by reminding them of your (non-chore) family plans for Sunday.
• Share with your children how and why Sunday is the first day of the week, and how this is in sharp contrast to our culture’s prevailing idea of it as the tail-end of the “weekend.”
• Celebrate your family’s successes. As you are enjoying a Sunday together, with the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your home is (basically) in order, give thanks to God and enjoy your time with Him and your family.

Something we heard about in our travels, years ago, was “svårmod.” We were told that Swedes use this word to describe a “low mood, melancholy, or sadness,” often arriving on a Sunday evening.  
 
We’ve all experienced this svårmod to some extent in our families. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Our Lord rested on the Sabbath and instructed us to do likewise. As we lead our families into this divine plan where Sunday is first, we can expect to see a lot less Sunday-night svårmod and a lot more Sunday-night peace, joy, and purpose.