A favorite Sunday tradition

Getting ready for church with three young kids can be chaos. It's often stressful and sometimes easy to feel like the Sabbath is anything but a "day of rest." It's not uncommon to get out the door late, leaving in our wake a home that looks like it's been hit by a tsunami.

But a couple years ago, we began a Sunday morning tradition that has really helped create a feeling of peace and love in our home during that otherwise hectic time. Our place is still usually pretty messy and sometimes we still get to church late, but it's a much more enjoyable process for everyone. When we get to church, we tend to be more spiritually prepared.

Here's what we do: We plug our kids in. I know, it sounds like lazy parenting, but in this situation, it's been very effective. We don't just plug them into anything. We cast uplifting, religious, kid friendly YouTube videos to our TV. Often when we let our kids watch shows during the week, our kids get cranky, but watching these particular shows usually has the opposite effect. Our kids have really grown to love this tradition and they often request to watch what they affectionately call "Jesus movies" each Sabbath.

They sit and snuggle. Sometimes we join them (that's the best). They get up and play together, while the shows continue to stream in the background. They stop and watch some more. They play some more. We usually get the kids ready one at a time while this is happening. It's been a decent recipe for low-key goodness.

We asked our oldest kids what some of their favorite "Jesus movies" were and they helped us put together a playlist. We'll try to add to it as time goes on. Let us know if you have any favorites that we should add to ours! Also, we'd love to hear what your family has done to make Sundays special. We're always looking for more ideas. God bless!

Here's the playlist our kids helped us put together, enjoy!