On Pause and Ponder
Oh how I missed you all last week! (That is “y’all” for my southern sisters!) I so love connecting with my cyber friends each week. It felt strange not doing so for a straight seven days.
However, my uncle’s funeral in Kentucky caused me to pause.
And to ponder.
How easy it is to get caught up in the routine of life; the kids, the house; work and such. The path we walk, though I’d love for it to be an off-beaten, leisurely one, complete with breath-taking nature and sweetly singing birds, instead is often a tedious treadmill of activity with which we must keep pace.
Oh, and someone keeps turning up the speed on the dial to a point where we can hardly keep up!
How both foreign and fabulous it felt last week to unplug from the computer (don’t worry, I’m not going away!).
I took a Facebook fast. I didn’t blog. I felt no desire to “check Craig’s List” for a bargain.
(Those close to us know we are CL fanatics. Our entire house (new stainless steel appliances and all!) is decorated in early American Craig’s List. We’ve also purchased baseball equipment, clothing, a lawn mower, a snow blower, and any other item you might imagine. Yep, my hubby is the Craig’s List King!!!)
For two whole days I spent time with extended family; many I had only met once years ago; some never.
No phones to answer, no emails to return (although a couple hundred were waiting when I plugged back in!).
I actually loved the pause.
It allowed me to ponder.
And this is what raced through my mind all week:
When instead someday, it is me lying in that big brown box, my soul now departed from my body, what will I be remembered for?
And more importantly, do my actions now help or hinder me in that quest?
Do I want those paying their respects to say, “Wow, could she get things done! What a fast-paced life of activity she lived!”
No.
How about, “Man could she talk!” ?
Nope.
Or, “What a way with words. She was a great writer!” ?
Nope again.
I so desperately want to be remembered for two things alone.
She loved God.
And she loved on people.
To be remembered so will require adjustments; a shift in my thinking.
Leave the pressing project to counsel with the perplexed person.
Choose a cup of coffee with my husband over a way-cool Internet site just discovered.
Put down the mop to visit with the child who just made the mess!
Stop on a neighborhood walk to chat instead of hurrying home to read emails.
Read my Bible, connecting with God daily, instead of sleeping in a half-hour longer.
Write a hand-written note of encouragement to a weary soul instead of vegging in front of the TV. (Okay–my multi-tasking mind just went straight to “Or at least write the handwritten note WHILE vegging in front of the TV!!!“)
People before projects.
Family before friends.
And God before all else.
After all, the saying is true. No one one their death bed ever says, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”
I must end this post now.
I’ve got a Bible to read.
And a family to love on. (Today that means homemade chili for the guys returning from opening day of deer hunting and a Thanksgiving care package mailed to Kenna in North Carolina).
I’ll see you back here Wednesday. I have a topic I’ve wanted to address for a while that goes right along with this chat.
Until then, will YOU pause and ponder?
CAUTION: it may require some adjustments on your part.
But the results are worth it.
People above projects.
God above all else.
See you soon, sweet sisters!
Blessings,
This is just pure refreshment to my soul!!
Karen,
This is a good reminder today. This past year my dad went home to be with the Lord. It was so wonderful to stand by His “box” and hear how he impacted so many lives. He loved His Lord and Savior above all things. He loved people. If you talked to him for any length of time you got the opportunity to hear about Jesus. I hope someday that when I am in my “box” that people can say the things about me that I heard people say about my dad.
Good to have you back.
People over projects. God above all else. Pause and ponder. Thanks for the perspective. I need to do that.
I came to the same realization many years ago and it is so freeing to do what is most important rather than what everyone else thinks you should do.
As for marriage, I read a For Better Or For Worse comic that I cut out and keep handy. The husband asks the wife to go for a walk on night, she is busy doing something and says “No, I am too busy.” He then asks her, “If you were single and the man you were interested in called you and asked you to go for a walk, what would you do?” The next frame shows them walking together. How true is that??? When I was dating and looking for Mr. Right, how often did I drop what I was doing to spend time with him? Yet for my husband I am sometimes too busy…not anymore. My husband just asked me to go somewhere last week. My counter was filled with dirty dishes, I was behind in everything yet I took off the rubber gloves and said, sure. I can do the dishes later but I can’t go with you later. It is so important to put people before projects as you wrote.
One last note, I also keep a framed comic of Family Circus in my family room. The kids are all asking the mom or dad to play and the parents keep saying “not now, not now.” The next frame shows Jeffy moving out and the parents saying “Now.” Well, it was too late. The comic slowed me down with my kids more than anything. The realization that they are not home forever kept me on the floor playing games I never really wanted to play or with cars, or legos or whatever but I was so grateful to have a heart open to spending time with them. I miss them now but I have no regrets.
Thank you for tackling topics that busy moms need to think about!