When It’s Not Easy Like Sunday Morning

The tricky part about Sunday mornings for pastor’s wives is walking into church calm and ready to invest in others after the storm of getting ready with kids. 

Parents who have young children know it’s not easy getting kids ready to leave the house. For some reason, getting the kids ready for church seems even harder. Getting your kids ready by yourself on a Sunday morning? Even harder.

How do we make the best of our time on Sunday mornings as pastor’s wives?

The greatest piece of advice I’ve ever received from a fellow pastor’s wife was to make sure kids enjoy going to church in their younger years. If we love going to church, our kids will too. If we don’t, neither will they. 

When I’m grouchy or frantic getting everyone ready, these emotions trickle down to our kids. If we aren’t careful, pastor’s wives can get stuck in a routine of just showing up, taking care of the kids, and leaving. We can lose sight of the bigger purpose and picture, and even begin to feel insignificant. 

How do we prevent these feelings and make Sunday’s truly enjoyable, calmer and more meaningful? Below are the greatest tips I’ve found from years of Sunday mornings. These tips have helped me go from feeling like Sunday’s are too hard, to finding great enjoyment and anticipation for Sunday to come!

Be intentional. Sunday mornings go by fast. If we aren’t intentional, we can miss lots of great opportunities that are right in front of us. The best ways I’ve found to be intentional are by walking around greeting first time guests, and checking in with two or three ladies I already know. I try to have a list of two or three ladies I’m praying each week. Before I arrive at church, I try thinking of something meaningful to share with each of them. It’s my goal each Sunday to make sure I find these ladies and check in with them.

Get everything ready the night before. Life is so much easier when we prepare the night before. I prepare my clothes, the children’s clothes, and any resources I might want to take to share with a certain friend on Saturday night.

Pray for your husband. Our husbands carry a heavy weight. One way to encourage them is to send them off with prayer before they leave home. Let them know you are their number one fan, and you are fighting for them through prayer.

Relax and enjoy church. We don’t have to run every program on Sunday mornings. In fact, we shouldn’t. Our main purpose is to care for our children and encourage our spouse. 

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help in certain areas. The best thing we can do for ourselves, our church and our family is to serve in areas we are gifted in and passionate about. But when possible, sit by your husband on the front row and cheer him on. You are his greatest cheerleader. That’s a role no one else can fill.

Wife Step: Write out these four steps on a post-it note and stick it somewhere you’ll see it to be reminded of how you can make Sundays more enjoyable.

Kristin lives in Huntsville, Al (or Rocket City as the Huntsvillian’s call it) with her husband Tim and two daughters. Kristin and her husband helped start Epic Church in San Francisco, Ca., and are now the lead planters of Essential Church in Huntsville, Al.  

While living and working in San Francisco, Kristin and her husband felt God calling them to Huntsville to start a church for people in the South who no longer believed church was for them.  She’s been married to her best friend and biggest fan, Tim, for ten years. Together they have three beautiful girls.

Before motherhood, Kristin was a Mary Kay director and an aspiring business woman. After years of hard work launching and maintaining a successful career, it all fell apart upon moving across the country. For years after losing her career, Kristin struggled with understanding her value and self-worth. She sought value in other titles, such as being a pastor’s wife, and then eventually a mom. 

Kristin now understands our value doesn’t come from the titles or careers we have. Kristin is a stay-at-home mom who seeks to give her children an ordinary, happy childhood. She seeks to find her value in Jesus each day and teaches her kids to do the same by teaching them scripture and letting them see how God fills our shortcomings. She has found her family’s gifts come to the surface when there is space for simplicity. She loves running, reading, writing, being outdoors, and hiking with her family.