Savoring Sundays - A Workaholic's Attempts to Keep Them Holy

It's occurred to me lately that I do a pretty bad job of truly observing the Sabbath, setting aside work and savoring time with my family.  Like many of you, our family always attends Mass together every Sunday morning.  We do well at prioritizing that, but things seem to fall apart a bit in the afternoon once we're home.

I blame myself largely, since I tend to use Sunday as a catch up day.  Catch up on laundry, plow through emails, plan for the week ahead in my writing responsibilities... you get the idea.  Too much work, and too little "keeping holy" this special day.  So lately, I've been trying to remedy this.  I'll be honest, I'm only taking baby steps at this point.  Things like leaving my iPhone at home when we head to church in the morning, or trying to stay offline as much as possible on Sunday.  But I still have a long way to go!

This weekend, however, I did a pretty good job.  Worn out from a very hard week of work and back to school stuff, I felt the urge to "get away from it all".  Adam and Greg, committed to being at church for a music practice and second mass, weren't able to take off.  But Eric and I did, heading up to Millerton Lake for a hike.

The day was an unusual one, with temperatures only in the high 80s and a sporadic drizzle.  The lake is so low right now - a visual reminder of the drought we face here in California.  We hit a trail that basically hugs the edge of the lake, moving along the gentle inclines at a very leisurely pace.  I love spending this type of time with Eric - his mind never ceases to amaze me.  We discussed everything from literature to sociology to his college plans.  We laughed, we pondered, we enjoyed moments of silence, all while taking in the glorious views God has created for us.  All in all, we were only away from home for about three hours, but the afternoon left me feeling refreshed and renewed.

I'm already looking forward to next weekend and trying to look ahead and what I might accomplish on Friday to make the weekend more family oriented and less "catch up" oriented.

Do you struggle with keeping Sundays sane and serene or have you managed to unplug?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic!