We hurry, scurry, and rush.
Many days I am thankful to make it to the kids' bedtimes and get them in bed.
We peel off their day's dirt, crusted with remnants of food dropped, little hands wiped off on clothing when mommy wasn't looking.
Jeans and t-shirts are traded in for fleece nightgowns and fuzzy flannel pajamas. Covers are folded back and eight feet and four bodies and eight arms are cocooned in fluffy blankets. It is so easy to kiss them and run downstairs...to my treadmill, to my work, to my reading, writing and even the long list of to-do's that take me half as long when they are asleep.
But tonight's different.
Tonight I'll sit. We'll talk through our list of what we're thankful for, though I have limited it to five because Zahara and Roman know how to stave off bedtime with a long list of thankfuls as we call them. We talk and pray and sing. I stroke soft baby hair until Ana's eyes flutter back into her head and her pleas for "hugs, mommy, hugs" are replaced with snores.
Is tonight different because I don't have any work to do and the dishes are done? Is the laundry folded, the house shining, and tomorrow's menu planned? Are my ducks all in their proverbial row?
No.
The dishes linger, the work will stay, the laundry needs to be flipped and there are at least two more loads to go in and probably one or two that need to be folded. But I'll sing and rub tiny backs and listen to small prayers to a big God because I'm thinking about Cathedrals.
No one knows who built the cathedrals and most of the artists would never see the finished product. I will never see the finished product of my children. Sure, I'll be able to launch them into the world and pray that they follow God, but hopefully I will be long dead before their true impact will be fulfilled. When their is no end in sight why do I hurry and rush along the special moments of bedtime trying to get to the end...the next thing?
So today, on Sunday, take a moment to rest, to regain perspective.
We are building lives, here. Our goal isn't an individual day {though many times I just "do the next thing"} our goal is a life...a childhood...years upon years built one day at a time, with consistency. And tonight, when our children are bleary-eyed, snuggly, and all their antics of the day are forgotten, let's sing an extra song, say an extra prayer, and take a moment just to be.
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