Forgotten Sunday

There is a store in Amish country I love to visit.
I enjoy walking through the various departments.
A Mennonite family runs the store.
The female sales clerks wear lovely homemade dresses and a white covering on their head.

The store is neat and clean; the shelves are full.
You can find seasonal decorations, cards, books, housewares, clothes, shoes, and toys.
There is a fabric department in the back and that is where the women congregate.
There is even an Amish department that sells black suits, white shirts, and straw hats.

The toy department is filled with the kind of toys I bought for my children.
No batteries, the toys are powered only by imagination.
There are the classic board games that we all remember.
There are Thomas trains and toy cars, and a selection of toy animals and dolls.

The people are friendly and the prices are very reasonable.
However, it is the atmosphere that brings me back.
It is the kindness of the employees and the pleasant attitude of the people who shop there.
I was just there with my oldest daughter who had never been there before.

She walked around amazed.
She agreed that it was everything I said and more.
In the craft section, with yarn and knitting supplies she surprised me.
I think I want to learn how to knit or crochet; it would be relaxing and I know I can do it.

I know she can as well.
She has always been a self-learner.
She could watch a tutorial online and knit a scarf by sundown.
That’s just the way she is.

We walked by the book section and she spotted my two books on the shelf.
Someone had put another book on top of one of mine rather than where it belonged.
She immediately moved the wayward book to its rightful place and smiled at me.
It is still a bit unreal to see my books on the shelves; I glance at them as I walk by.

I found some maxi skirts there that were nice and long and very cute.
I bought them since they were such a good price.
When I wore one, on a day I was out with my younger daughter, I noticed it.
A little hole in the front that was visible to me, but difficult to find among the stripes.

I called the store to see if they had another one of those skirts in my size.
There were none on the racks I was told, but the warehouse had some.
They would call the warehouse and the skirt would be sent over.
I would get a phone call when they arrived.

It was calling the store that I found so wonderful.
I did not hear the typical muzak that one usually has to endure.
Instead I heard something that lifted my spirits.
It was an announcement unlike any I had ever heard.

Thank you for calling Good’s store.
Our hours are ____and we are closed on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, so we all can worship.
Here, you will find that we operate on principles laid out in God’s Word.
We are so happy to serve you.

I found myself smiling.
I found myself remembering.
That’s the way it used to be.
Taking Sunday drives after church, when no store was open, not even a gas station.

It was understood that whatever you had to do, you could get it done the rest of the week.
Sunday was a day of rest.
Sunday was a family day and a visiting day.
Sunday was a day to rejuvenate, take a cozy nap, and read the Sunday newspaper.

I was nostalgic for the way things were.
I found in this store a place that has kept those same traditions that I remember as a girl.
I found in this store a place that puts God’s Word over man’s profits.
I found in this place a store that honors God and operates on Biblical principles.

Refreshing.
Wouldn’t it be nice if it were that way again?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Sunday were truly a day of rest and not a catch-up day?
Wouldn’t it be lovely if Sunday were not just another day of the week but the Lord’s Day?

But Sunday is the Lord’s Day.
Sunday never stopped being all that God commanded it to be.
We are the ones that have become disobedient.
We are the ones that have forgotten Sunday placed it on the level of any other day.

And God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name. Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:1-11)

Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.
How well are we doing?
There are so many sports teams that practice and play games on Sunday.
We get our shopping done and our housework done because we can.

How well are we keeping the Sabbath, the Lord’s Day?
One store is doing just that.
Hearing the message when I called the store lifted my spirits.
The words sounded so foreign by they sounded so very right.

Then He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2: 27,28)

God created us and He knows us best.
He knows that we need a day of rest.
We need a day to ponder Him and the great things He has done.
The problem is we are so busy; we don’t take the time to be still.

The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
That is a fact.
We cannot change that by forgetting Sunday and making it our day instead of His.
How well are we doing?

 

2 responses to “Forgotten Sunday”

1. One of the saddest things about the way we’ve “Forgotten Sunday” is that it was given to us for our benefit. WE are the losers when we fail to observe it. It was something that God said was for our “rest” and People these days are so tired out. (I was telling a friend last evening that I am so tired of the first answer being “TIRED” whenever I ask someone how they are, that I try never to say that I’m tired. Even if I think I have more reason to be tired than they do!) 🙂 But the truth is, I still “keep Sunday.” Many in my family don’t see it, but I try to not do anything that doesn’t NEED doing on Sunday. I almost always take a nap sometime in the afternoon, have guests or do something out of the workday routine. I guard my Sundays, too. I don’t like for there to be extra work expected of me on that day. It’s enough to get ready for church, start lunch for when we get home, go to church and then come home, eat lunch and clean it up. Sometimes the kids think they HAVE to pick up something from the store and I am not legalistic about this, but for me, unless there is an emergency, I am not going out shopping, either. And I can’t say that this is all of it, but I notice that I do have more energy than many younger people. It is just rejuvenating — no scheduled jobs that HAVE TO BE DONE TODAY! Thank you for this post. Thanks, too, for the thumbs up on Good’s Store. That’s one of my favorite places.

   Reply

   • Mary Ann, how right you are. The Sabbath was given for us. Yes, “tired” does seem to be the descriptive most people use. We keep going and we do not give our soul a chance to catch up! It may seem old-fashioned to keep the Sabbath and I know I do not always keep it the way I should. It is right, it is Biblical, and it honors the Lord. Thank you for your honest thoughts and reflection.
     Gina

     Reply