Working on Sundays

Usually, I work on Sunday evenings. I don't really like to work on Sundays, but I don't work too many other days of the week regularly, so I do so mostly for the hours and pay.

Today is the first (and hopefully only) Sunday that I have been asked to work on a Sunday morning. The only reason I consented to doing so is that the lady who usually works this shift had another commitment, and she couldn't find anyone else to take the shift, and she covered a Saturday shift for me not long ago. My boss knows that this is a big favor to be asking of me, because I told him some time back that I didn't want to work on Sundays at all, let alone on a Sunday morning or early afternoon.

To say that working or doing any kind of laborous work on Sundays is not a Lutheran statement. It's full of pietistic sentiments that I don't share, nor do many Lutherans. But Sunday, nonetheless, is a very holy day that should be kept holy. Remember that even Jesus worked, or rather performed miraculous works, on the Sabbath, against the wishes and understanding of bystanders.

So, this morning, my husband is going to church without me. I had to be in to cover this shift beginning at 5 a.m., and I don't get off work until 12:30 p.m. Even though our church is about an hour's drive from home, in the time I'm working here this morning, my husband has been able to sleep until about 7 a.m., be at church by 9 a.m., and be back to pick me up from work at about 12:30 p.m., without being late (I hope).

The good thing about working Sundays is that all of the newscasts are recorded ahead of time, so if I'm really on top of my game, I have all of the newscasts pre-recorded and in the system ready to play within about 1 1/2 to 2 hours after I arrive at work. That way, I can work on writing up or updating other stories, pay better attention to police and emergency scanners so I know exactly what's going on without being distracted ... and, in the evenings, watch my favorite show: "Desperate Housewives" while keeping the scanners pumping through my headphones in my right ear.

But since I don't work tonight (because the lady whose shift I'm covering this morning is working my regular shift tonight from 7 to midnight), I get to watch my show at home without those pesky police and emergency scanners distracting me.

Maybe eventually, I'll be a full-time employee and won't have to work at all on weekends. But, that could just be a pipe dream. One of the full-time guys here does work on weekends ... both days of every weekend.

I'm glad that I know that it's not commanded to do absolutely no work on Sundays, since Jesus showed us differently in the Scriptures, but I look forward to the time when I won't be asked or scheduled to work on Sundays. I enjoy going to church, and I enjoy spending quality time with my husband, making him suffer through an episode of "Desperate Housewives" with me. :D