Much, Much Too Busy For You

"Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you." 3 John 1:5 (NIV)

Running late, I ran back through the rain and into my house to grab my purse and phone. On the sprint back to my van, I noticed a man by the side of the road bent over the hood of his van, phone to his ear, rain sliding down his utility coat. 

Poor man must be soaked I thought, backing out of the driveway. Hopefully he'll find some help soon.

I looked over one more time to see him pacing back and forth in front of the van, talking furiously on the phone.

I knew what I should do but it was raining. I was late to work. I had a million other things to get done today. I just didn't have the time.

Do you live like this? Rushing here and there, always running behind, trying to get everything done with no time left to spare? No time left for anyone or anything but your to-do list?

I find myself in this position a lot. Not because I want to be there but somehow I seem to end up there, more often than I would like. And this day in particular, I was most definitely there.

When my kids were little, they loved to watch Veggie Tales. One episode was a retelling of the parable of the Good Samaritan. As both asparagus walked by the stranger laying hurt on the road, they sang this song:

"I'm busy, busy, dreadfully busy

You've no idea what I have to do.

Busy, busy, shockingly busy

Much, much too busy for you."

The word 'Busy' seems to be the theme song of our world right now. Ask anyone, especially a woman, how she's doing and most likely she'll reply, "Oh, busy." And the person asking the question will probably reply with a nod of her head and a "Me too".

In  3 John, we find a letter written by the apostle John to encourage his friend, Gaius. John heard how Gaius was generous, showing hospitality to Christian sisters and brothers who were traveling missionaries needing help and a place to stay when they came into town. For Gaius, hospitality to the stranger was his habit, and his reputation for friendliness had spread, so much so that John wrote to commend him. 

Gaius stands in stark contrast to another leader mentioned in the letter, Diotrephus, who refuses to welcome the traveling missionaries of the time.  He not only refuses to help them, he tells others not help them also. 

The people we come across in our day may not be traveling missionaries but the theme of 3 John should cause us to ask, how do we see the stranger among us? As someone to welcome in with generosity and kindness? Or as an annoyance or an inconvenience?

On that rainy day the stranger on the side of the road was initially an inconvenience. I was busy and had things to do. Thankfully, God caused me to pause and rethink my hurriedness. 

Pulling my hood on tight, I put the van in park and walked over. 

"Do you need help?" I asked. 

He nodded vigorously and pointed his beat-up phone in my direction. "My son," he said, "my son."

No english. No idea where he was and no vehicle to get him to work. His son interpreted for me. I wrote directions on the scrap of paper he pulled from his pocket, rain smearing the ink as I wrote. 

"Thank you, thank you," he nodded as we parted. 

I hopped back into my van. I wasn't late for work. I still got done all that needed to get done that day. And I had a lot to reflect on and pray over because of a certain stranger by the side of the road.

This New Year let's determine to reflect Christ in how we treat the stranger among us. May we stop our hurry to open our hearts, our minds, maybe even our homes, so we can touch others with His love.


This post is also over at Getting Real Ministries. Please head over there and check it out!

Summer Thankfulness

Summer is fun and long and beautiful and weary for a mom. When needed, pack a lunch and meet friends at the park, stay for hours and take silly pictures.

In so many years from now, you'll look back on those pictures and marvel at how fast the time has gone, how grown the kids are and how you wish scooters at the park were all you needed to make a day great.

So thankful for good friends, fun park and scooters. What are you thankful for this summer? Comment below...I'd love to know!

Another Year Older

The family and I headed to a Wolves' hockey game a few weekends back. Free tickets, why not? It should be a fun family time I thought. That was before the spilled drink (a full one I just took out a loan to pay for), a pre game fireworks show so loud I had to take my sound sensitive child out of the arena because of fright and, of course, multiple on ice hockey fights that I just can't watch (sorry hockey fans but I just don't get it!).

In my head, I'm thinking this is a failed night, a zero on the family fun-o-meter. I turned to look at my eldest sitting next to me and she's smiling big, chattering away about this and that, nothing which has to do with hockey. She's the child I will always remember saying in her tiny preschool voice, "Mom, I just love being out and about with my family." That after a lame trip to Target to pick up extra diapers for her younger siblings. I must have bought her an icee or something. She just loves being out with her family, no matter what we're doing. Happiness to her soul right there.

Fast forward a few weeks and this precious girl is turning ten. How can that be? My heart flutters faster with thoughts of her growing up and out. When all I really want to do is keep her out and about with me, with us, her family. And I wonder, did I spend enough time with her today, her birthday? Or was I too concerned about cleaning up all the sprinkles rolling around on the counter after she lavished them all over her homemade birthday cake? Have I made sure she will knows we love being out and about with her as much as she loves being out with us?

This parenting gig is not for the weak at heart, especially around birthdays. On the outside we celebrate them growing bigger. We smile big for the camera and for the birthday kid. But on the the inside, there's an entirely different roller coaster going on. I don't want to stop the ride. Just would like it to slow down a bit. 

I guess my heart needs the reminder of birthdays, the reminder that time is moving fast but it slows down a bit when we're out and about with each other, doing our family thing, spilled drinks and all. I'm learning to savor our time together a bit more and a bit better each year. 

Growing older is part of the plan and I love watching the growth, savoring the tiny moments together that add up to memories. Let's continue to be together with the ones we love, doing the thing that makes them feel loved, enjoying each moment of it. 

It's Time to Enjoy the Watching

I took my son to basketball practice the other night. I needed to get out of the house so I didn't give my husband the chance to offer his services. I just declared I would take him to practice and then we left, leaving at home a sick child, one well child and my husband to be the caretaker. 

I'm so glad I went. I love watching him play basketball. He might be little and double dribble a whole lot but there's something about watching him develop into his personhood that does my heart good.

It was tempting to get other things done while he practiced. I brought my grocery list and, I admit, some cookbooks with--thought I'd get in some menu planning. But for the most part, I resisted the urge to plan ahead. 

Instead, I watched my son shoot some hoops and saw how his form was getting much better. I saw his coach give him high fives and offer advice. I watched my son listen and obey his coach (good boy) then in the next moment, pretend he was in a light saber duel with an imaginary storm trooper (well, waiting in line can be boring--at least he has a good imagination!).

I saw a lot of who he is and who he is becoming and I am so glad I didn't miss it because of some grocery list. Now, I am all about making the most of my time and I do not have any shame in using my kid's basketball practice to get things done.

But I know it is also just as important to sit and watch. Just watch. Nothing else. It's so important to let your heart grow more in love with your kids as they do their thing. Growing closer to each other can happen just by being there.

It's our job to watch them. Not helicopter style watching, more like noticing. It's important to notice them. It's important to let them know you saw them. Let them know you noticed what they did and how you enjoyed the time spent on the sidelines.

We all know time goes by fast and they'll be grown soon. But let's watch for more than that. Let's watch so we can fall in love, so we can show our love a little more.

Enjoy the watching, friends!

For Just The Afternoon

Yesterday I was home with a sick kiddo. Whenever I am home with a sick kid, I feel this need to clean and disinfect the entire house. From top to bottom. Every germ I want to be gone.

But this need to clean does not leave me room to be a good caregiver. Since I have learned this about myself, I made myself a list.

Moments are so much easier to make time for when I break my day down into parts and focus on the priorities of just that slice of time. Then I  actually accomplish what I set out to accomplish! As for today's main focus--extra snuggle time with my daughter. I knew my compulsion to clean could overshadow my snuggles so I had to make the list and I had to put it in writing.

Not only did we get in snuggle time, we managed the bubble bath, the extra chapters of Charlotte's Web and I got some laundry put away. Miracle!

The afternoon felt manageable. It felt calm. It felt right. My time was spent right and my most important priority was cared for.

Each morning I stand at my kitchen window, coffee cup in hand, looking out at this view. This picture is a blurry but please notice the cross. It is in the upstairs window of my neighbor's house. They haven't taken down all their Christmas decorations--thank goodness I'm not the only one---and this cross has been part of their decorations all season long.

Everyone else up and down the street has taken their decorations down by now. Trees are sitting by the curb waiting to be trash and twinkle lights are packed away for next year.

But this cross is still there.

This cross is still shining brightly.

This cross serves as my morning reminder--when the decorations and the fancy have been stripped away, the cross still stands.

I keep my gaze outside a little bit longer in the morning now. I don't rush into the to-do's and have-to's quite as fast because I have a cross to notice. I have a cross to linger with and a cross to set my day straight.

May we linger with the cross a little bit longer today. Let it keep your day straight and let it shine on your path a little bit brighter today.

A New Year And A New Word

It’s New Years and that means it is time for some resolutions and goals. I dig the changing of the calendar, the crafting of goals and the dreaming of all the ways I just might be able to change that bad habit once and for all in this new year. Maybe.

Although I am common sense enough to realize not all my goals will even make it past January 31st, I do like the One Word for the New Year trend. All you have to do is pick one word that will guide you and be significant to you during the entire year. It is not quite as overwhelming as a long of resolutions. It is focused and easy to remember. It’s just one word. I can do that!

I decided on my One Word for 2016: Sit

It’s not very profound or deep but I have noticed a disturbing trend in myself I do not like — I do not sit much. I eat my breakfast over the kitchen counter, I constantly sweep up crumbs like nobody’s business and when I do have a spare moment to sit, I always, always find another chore or task to do.

I’m never fully present.

I can tell myself I am listening to my family as I wash the dishes but in reality, I am not. I can feel like I have accomplished a lot in my day because of all my busyness but I have not accomplished being fully in the moment.

If I want to start a life of noticing, of truly making time for moments and making openings for God to work within those moments, then I need to sit. 

Because it is in the sitting where I make connections. It is in the sitting where I hear and learn who someone really is and what they are really saying. It is in the sitting where I give God the space to move and work and be made known.

I can’t do any of those things when I fill my every minute with tasks and to-dos. And I certainly cannot sense God’s presence and His movement when I don’t slow down.

Certainly God can move and work whether I sit down or not but our teamwork is greatly one sided when I don’t even notice His movement. Or when I move so rapidly through my day I don’t even allow Him room.

Sitting sounds good to me right now. A year full of sitting sounds really good. I know it will be tougher than it sounds. Choosing presence over busyness always is. But if sitting means getting to know my people and my God more fully, then in those moments where I feel the pull of busyness, I’ll need to remember the rewards of being still, of sitting with intention, are far greater.

So, here’s to a New Year full of sitting. First, I think I’ll try sitting down at my own kitchen table. I can’t wait to find out what I will discover there!

If you’re interested in learning more about the One Word movement, here is a website to give you more information: oneword365.com

You can also read this post over at Getting Real Ministries. 

When Wednesday Seems So Far From Sunday - Preparing for Thanks

It's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and many of us are in the middle of preparations -- cooking our favorite dish, tidying up our homes or searching the grocery store for that one ingredient.

As we prepare dishes and homes this Wednesday, let's not forget to prepare our hearts. It's in the  midst of preparations that hearts get forgotten. But hearts need reminders too, reminders to see and give thanks. 

What moments lie before us today and tomorrow that we can be thankful for?

What moments big or small can we pause to notice and pause to give thanks?

For me, it's unhurried mornings and slow breakfasts because there's nowhere we have to be.

It's a thankful jar made by little hands, filled high with slips of paper expressing thanks for all the things little hearts are always thankful for -- family, snow and no school.

It's a table filled with delicious food and tomorrow's leftovers.

There's so much to be thankful for if we take the time to look for it.

Happy Thanksgiving!