Sunday mornings are for church

Sunday mornings are the busiest in the household. We wake up early to prepare for Sunday worship service. We're not allowed to stay up late on Saturday nights. We're reminded that our clothes should have been set aside the night before; our shoes should have been polished by then. (I've been guilty many times of not obeying these instructions.) My father reprimands us if we dilly-dally. Still sleeping at 7 am is almost unthinkable. At this time we should be taking a shower or eating breakfast already because the worship service begins at 9 am—and we shouldn't be late. My father used to remind us that we should give the Lord the best of our everything; if we arrive at our meetings for work on time, we should do the same—or even better—for when we meet with the Lord and His people.

I associate Sunday mornings with church. While I'm thankful for afternoon services (during residency, I had to report to work until 12 noon to do rounds on patients or had to stay for 24 hours if I was on duty—one of the most painful things I had to deal with during training), I still prefer going to church in the morning.

I hope you're up and about to prepare for church, too. Here's a beautiful Puritan prayer before going to church. An excerpt:

O Maker and Upholder of all things, 

Day and night are thine; they are also
mine from thee —
the night to rid me of the cares of the day,
to refresh my weary body,
to renew my natural strength;
the day to summon me to new activities,
to give me opportunity to glorify thee,
to serve my generation,
to acquire knowledge, holiness, eternal life.

But one day above all days is made especially
for thy honour and my improvement;
The sabbath reminds me
of thy rest from creation,
of the resurrection of my Saviour,
of his entering into repose.
Thy house is mine,
but I am unworthy to meet thee there,
and am unfit for spiritual service.