Tick, Tock...the seconds drag by
Tick, Tock...the hours fly by
The constant ticking of the clock seems to drain us of the very excitement of life. Hurry up and get here. Wait now. Now get moving again. The clock says, "It's time. You're late. You're moving to slow."
I like the quote by William Faulkner: "Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life."
I look forward to the day when the clock stops so that true life can begin. No, I am not talking about retirement or even vacations. I am talking about eternity.
My husband were talking in the car on the way to work one day and we were discussing things we looked forward to when we get to heaven. I decided the thing I anticipate most is life with no clock. No schedule, no tick-tock telling us what to do. A life of absolute peace and joy because we literally have "all the time in the world." I can't wait for that day to come.
But until it does, I pray I use the time I have wisely.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Missing My Little Munchkins
My work tends to involve long hours and busy days. Though I only "work" Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. . . oh and Sunday, it still feel like my time with my girls is limited. At Women of Joy this weekend, Steven Curtis Chapman talked about the loss of his little girl two years ago. He said that if he had known that 2 weeks after her birthday, he would no longer be able to see his little girl then he would have done things a lot differently.
If I knew that in 2 weeks I wouldn't be able to hug, kiss, cuddle, or play with my little munchkins, priorities would definitely change. I was away from my girls all weekend and am babysitting at someone's house for the first half of this week. Normally, when I am away from the girls for a few days I'm good but it seems like since the first of the year, my time with them is getting shorter and shorter.
Yes, I absolutely have days where my kids drive me crazy, but that doesn't change my love for them. Last week, my oldest was being exceptionally difficult. (I am convinced that the emotional roller coaster of the teenage years can begin EARLY!!) It seemed like every time I saw here, I was having to correct her for something. Even on Sunday, when I got home from the conference, I had already grounded her from talking. (Which, if you know Marissa at all, is possibly the worst discipline imaginable.)
In spite of all the little things that irk me or drive me nuts, I am more aware than ever that my little munchkins won't always be munchkins. Sooner than I want to admit, they will be gone--to college, married, out on their own.
It is so easy in the heat of the moment to wish that they would just "grow-up" but shame on me for not cherishing the moments. I hope that each moment: the good, the bad, and ugly, will be special because that don't last forever.
If I knew that in 2 weeks I wouldn't be able to hug, kiss, cuddle, or play with my little munchkins, priorities would definitely change. I was away from my girls all weekend and am babysitting at someone's house for the first half of this week. Normally, when I am away from the girls for a few days I'm good but it seems like since the first of the year, my time with them is getting shorter and shorter.
Yes, I absolutely have days where my kids drive me crazy, but that doesn't change my love for them. Last week, my oldest was being exceptionally difficult. (I am convinced that the emotional roller coaster of the teenage years can begin EARLY!!) It seemed like every time I saw here, I was having to correct her for something. Even on Sunday, when I got home from the conference, I had already grounded her from talking. (Which, if you know Marissa at all, is possibly the worst discipline imaginable.)
In spite of all the little things that irk me or drive me nuts, I am more aware than ever that my little munchkins won't always be munchkins. Sooner than I want to admit, they will be gone--to college, married, out on their own.
It is so easy in the heat of the moment to wish that they would just "grow-up" but shame on me for not cherishing the moments. I hope that each moment: the good, the bad, and ugly, will be special because that don't last forever.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Capacity to Serve
Today a group of volunteers gathered at the church to fill over 2,000 Easter Eggs with candy. (I am beyond thankful for what they did. Can you imagine how long it would take me to fill that many eggs by myself?) Anyway, the people who gathered are those who don't work--our Encore ministry. Many times we think of this group and wonder if there is still anywhere that they can serve and I say absolutely. They have a wonderful capacity to serve in the church.
But what amazed me the most today was my daughter, Emilia. My girls are with me at the church whenever I work unless they have school. None of my girls had school today so that meant all three of them were here. As I was setting up for the people to stuff the eggs, I was wondering, "What am I going to do with my girls while all this work gets done?" Normally, they play in the fellowship hall but that's where we filled the eggs. As the people started arriving I still hadn't figured out what to do with them. Marissa decided that she wanted to help fill eggs with them so the other two decided to follow her lead.
They started strong but after a little while one started playing more than filling. At first I tried to refocus them (which was hard, since I wasn't actually stuffing eggs). Then I gave up and just let them go--they weren't bothering anyone. I looked up shortly after that and realized that Emilia, who is 4, was still stuffing eggs. She had moved from the floor where I had put the girls and was standing at the table with the adults. Marissa and Cinthia were running around playing and asking Emilia to join them but she refused. She wanted to help!! And she did help, the whole time--over 3 hours of stuffing eggs.
How often do we look at people and say that they can't serve because. . . (fill in the blank--age, gender, personality, etc.)? How often do we look at ourselves and say I can't serve because . . .(fill in the blank--skill, health, ability, etc.)? If a 4-year old girl can fill Easter eggs for 3 hours alongside a 92-year old, then you have the capacity to serve.
But what amazed me the most today was my daughter, Emilia. My girls are with me at the church whenever I work unless they have school. None of my girls had school today so that meant all three of them were here. As I was setting up for the people to stuff the eggs, I was wondering, "What am I going to do with my girls while all this work gets done?" Normally, they play in the fellowship hall but that's where we filled the eggs. As the people started arriving I still hadn't figured out what to do with them. Marissa decided that she wanted to help fill eggs with them so the other two decided to follow her lead.
They started strong but after a little while one started playing more than filling. At first I tried to refocus them (which was hard, since I wasn't actually stuffing eggs). Then I gave up and just let them go--they weren't bothering anyone. I looked up shortly after that and realized that Emilia, who is 4, was still stuffing eggs. She had moved from the floor where I had put the girls and was standing at the table with the adults. Marissa and Cinthia were running around playing and asking Emilia to join them but she refused. She wanted to help!! And she did help, the whole time--over 3 hours of stuffing eggs.
How often do we look at people and say that they can't serve because. . . (fill in the blank--age, gender, personality, etc.)? How often do we look at ourselves and say I can't serve because . . .(fill in the blank--skill, health, ability, etc.)? If a 4-year old girl can fill Easter eggs for 3 hours alongside a 92-year old, then you have the capacity to serve.
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