We returned yesterday from a visit to Oklahoma to celebrate my mother's retirement from teaching in the OU College of Nursing. The trip was planned before we knew which day the official program and reception would be held. As God's providence would have it, the program was scheduled for Wednesday, the last full day of our visit!
My husband graciously served as the family photographer (I don't have pictures yet), and it was truly a day to remember! Two of my mother's longtime colleagues were there, and I enjoyed recalling the moments I had shared with them over the years, like visiting with them at the office, playing with their children, and celebrating significant events like bridal showers and weddings.
Thus, this week truly marked the end of an era, and I am thankful we were were there to celebrate with my mom. The trip did not come without a cost, but the once-in-a-lifetime memories were worth the time and energy we spent to be there. My daughters gave up their end of the school year field trips to celebrate with their grandmother. They truly enjoyed being with Grandma though. My husband gave up any "down time" he could have had between the end of a grueling semester and the start of teaching summer school. I missed the last lesson with my BSF group on the Gospel of John, but was able to attend the same lesson with my mom at a local BSF meeting. So despite what we gave up, it was clear we made the right decision to be there this week.
As I return to our daily routine here in Nebraska, I hope to make better decisions on what I should and should not spend time doing. A great challenge for me is to choose the highest priorities to accomplish each day. Investing time to make fresh muffins on the morning of our departure from Oklahoma was not a step in the right direction however.
Thankfully, God's mercies are new every morning, and I have more opportunities to choose to do the ping pong balls first, before adding pebbles or sand to my daily cup. So if anyone notices I am posting less, it may be that I am pursuing priorities that outrank posting and commenting, as much as I enjoy those pastimes. Or it could be that the debris in my house is still concealing the location of my camera (along with my cell phone that vanished months ago).
5 comments:
I'm right there with you on the prioritizing. In the end, I'm thinking I want people to say things like, "She was a great listener and cared about those around her" rather than "Boy, did she have some clean baseboards at her house."
It would be nice if they could walk into my house without tripping though.=)
I still can't get over all the American's whose blogs I read talking about it being the end of school already, even after years on the net.
Here in England we have two weeks left before midterm break which is a week and then 5 or 6 weeks until summer break starts.
Often when I am having a hard time prioritizing, I ask God, "What's the one thing I need to do now." Sometimes the answer may be "empty the dishwasher" and other times it may be "pray."
God knows the balance we need to strike. Thank goodness someone does!
It really is difficult when regular things get in the way...sometimes it's very difficult to prioritize! Many a time I think I have my time all set for the day and all of a sudden the plan goes out the window and I have a completely different day happen. Such is life when you have lots of kids!
Post a Comment