I will always associate Sundays with pot roast! That is a weird statement, isn’t it! Please let me explain! I’ve already told you all what a wonderful mother I had! When I think of my mother today and the kind of Mom she was, I think of these verses in the Bible… 

 ²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.  ²⁶When she speaks her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.  ²⁷She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.  ²⁸ Her children stand and bless her.  Her husband praises her: “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all. 

Proverbs 31: 25-28 (NLT New Living Translation) 

My mother was TOTALLY AWESOME!  She would wake up early Sunday morning (and everyday) prepare a pot roast Sunday lunch and have it cooking in the oven while we were at Church. She would get breakfast for whoever needed it. She would also give me the extra help I needed! She did all this and was as sweet and kind as she could be! 

It was important to Dad to be on time!  My Dad would yell, not meanly, just so a household of people could hear him, “ten minutes!”  Five minutes later he would yell out, “five minutes.”  I remember thinking to myself, “Dad, in all reality, it’s going to be more like fifteen to twenty minutes because I’m only halfway ready!”  My Dad was always kind and patient! He never got really mad about it! I think my Dad probably prayed for patience and then I was born! Ha ha ha ha.  I said it in a previous blog post and I’ll say it again, when it comes to fathers; I won the Golden Ticket! DAD WAS THE BEST!

We would finally make it to Church!  I don’t know why, but I always came home starving, and the awesome smell of the pot roast lunch cooking didn’t help! You know me, I have to be completely honest, I would turn into a begging dog, waiting for any scraps that might come my way! I would sit right by my mother while she cut the pot roast, with my mouth doing the swallowing motion and I’m sure there was some watering of the mouth as well.  My mom was kind and would always give me tasters and appetizers of pot roast! I’d like to be able to say that I was doing a great service to the family and making sure the pot roast was cooked enough and safe to eat, but my mother was an awesome, wonderful cook and her food definitely did not need testing!  The 100% complete truth was that I was really hungry and wanted some of Mom’s awesome, wonderful pot roast! 

After Sunday lunch, it was that sweet time we all know and love called Sunday afternoon naptime!  When I was younger, I would hunker down in front of the TV.  I’m sorry to say this, but football makes a great background noise to sleep by.  I’M SORRY!  Bengals fans will be encouraged to know that watching the Cleveland Browns play football puts me to sleep deeper and faster than watching our beloved Cincinnati Bengals! As I got older, I would sneak off to my bedroom for an all-afternoon nap!

After my Mom died, my sisters took over doing all the cooking! As the family circle grew more and more with weddings and births, we decided to simplify.  We learned that Grove City has lots of great pizza joints! It was fun ordering from a different venue every week to see who had the best pizza; I personally vote for Pizza Hut! 

When Covid hit, our regular Sunday get togethers got disrupted!  Now, we meet at 2:00pm for iced or hot coffee- whatever suits each one’s taste.  We sit out in the backyard and just have fun catching up on what’s happening in each other’s lives!  Sometimes my nephew and his wife will come and bring their two kids.  Kids are fun to watch play and you never know what they will say!  During the season, my brothers will give me batting and pitching practice for Buddy Ball. 

My family has a unique situation in that we mostly live in the Columbus area.  The only exceptions being one nephew and his family who live in Atlanta, another nephew in Iraq with the National Guard, who will hopefully be home sometime in September! HIP HIP HOORAY! I also have a niece and her husband who live in California.  I have to tell you, I don’t sneak off and take naps anymore; I stay up and enjoy visiting with my family! 

I invite you to make Sundays a special day of rest! Start the day off right by going to Church!  It’s fun to worship by singing, hearing a great God-inspired message and fellowshipping with all your good friends! After that, come home, eat a good lunch, and do whatever is peaceful and relaxing to you!  I encourage you to do this… IF YOU CAN AND HAVE THE TIME,  TAKE YOURSELF A GOOD LONG SUNDAY AFTERNOON NAP!  To help you not feel guilty, think of it as a necessity (not just a want) to get you prepared for the long, new week ahead!