Simply the Sabbath

Sundays are a little tough for me, lately. I want to keep the commandments and "keep the Sabbath Day holy" but am not ever really sure about just how to do that, other than attending church and possibly visiting neighbors and/or family. We are fairly consistent about not watching tv and listening to music other than the Sunday variety, but since our church block ends at noon (for the rest of our lives), we are left with a HUGE chunk of Sunday time to do... WHAT?! I'm starting to think we need to invite family and friends up to OUR house each Sunday for dinner, just so I can have something to plan on. I just cannot sit still for too long, and my preference would be to work outside with the animals, gardening, etc., which I am trying not to do on Sunday, since we do that EVERY day of the week. However, if I stay inside, I find myself washing dishes, laundry, sorting through junk, and all sorts of WORK... only difference is the interior location. I seriously can't see how doing the interior work is any better than doing the exterior work.

This afternoon, I really made an effort to bypass the work; I read an article out of the New Era and a couple out of the Friend, to the kids; I read from a book called "American Folklore and Legends"; I tried to fall asleep in the front room for even just a few minutes... seemed the thing to do, since Gerrit AND Kevin were passed out. The kids watched Gandhi, which I just didn't have the attention span to do, today. We walked almost a mile down to the neighbor's house to see all of his baby goats, especially the two that we witnessed being born, yesterday, and to wish his son a Happy Birthday. That killed a little time...

Pitiful, isn't it? I should LOVE Sundays, for the rest and peace that it affords, but all I truly find myself being is bored out of my mind. I find that there is only SO much reading and studying and visiting to do on Sunday. Laziness can't be anymore righteous than keeping busy... Aack!

I caved in to the lesser part, today, and moved the horses around to switch up pasture time; pulled a few weeds out of the flowerbed and fed them to the goat; and told Kev we ought to cut down the big dead tree in front of the house, which he did. We, then, set up our little fire pit/grill thing-a-majigger and roasted marshmallows, sang camp songs, and enjoyed the clear night sky. This last effort seems perfectly appropriate for the Sabbath, but I'm not so sure I could say the same for pulling weeds, moving panels, and felling a huge birch tree. The scripture that says, "The natural man is an enemy to God," or something similar to that, kept popping into my mind during Relief Society today, and again nags at my conscience this evening. I truly want to choose the better part and have some kind of enjoyable, peaceful, and Sabbath appropriate plans in the future. Suggestions, anyone?