God Speaks

I called my mother-in-law last week to see if she could help me out.  I have quite a few errands I need to run and it would be bliss to not have to drag three children along with me to do them.  Especially the few that involve stores that are far from child friendly (aka Hobby Lobby and Michael's).

Thankfully, she is awesome and is going to do it for me!  Yippee!!  But then I got selfish and started thinking, "Well, I am going to be in Lincoln today too.  What if I did some of those errands and then was able to just enjoy my time in Lincoln and be able to go to a coffee shop and sit and read a while?"  This is an activity I have not done in 6 years.  Not even joking. 

A friend of mine was telling me that she had the opportunity to do this recently and it made me miss this time.  I think I am going to try very hard to try and make this work.  A few hours to relax and people watch, sounds heavenly.  I am really looking forward to it!

As I was longing for this time to come sooner and more often today as I cleaned up the massive mess in my kitchen after lunch, God put a thought in my head.  I was just thinking to myself, "Why don't I schedule more times like these?  Why are they so hard to come by?"  God said to me, "Think about your grandmother, Shauna.  She is probably at home today by herself without much to do and would long for your children to come raid her."  (Don't get me wrong, my grandmother works as hard as anyone I know and keeps herself rather busy, but she can have these days whenever she chooses)

Sometimes it is hard to see through the fog.  It is hard to remove yourself from the craziness around you; to think through the tiredness; to clean up that spill for the umpteenth time today.  It is hard to remember that these years really do fly by when all you do is long for a trip to Wal Mart or Target by yourself or even a trip to the bathroom with no interruptions.  Believe me.  I know because that is where I am.  I don't even bother to shut the door anymore!

I'm not saying that time alone isn't merited or needed in the life of a mom and wife, but it is also great to have this little bit of perspective.  Everyone says, "Cherish these years they will fly by before you know it."  It is a cliche we have all heard so much we don't even pay attention to it anymore.  I know I don't.  But, if you really let yourself think about it in a context that can really touch your heart, like your own grandmother who has raised four kids and watched them all move on with their own families.  She has buried two husbands and one of those children.  She lives at home out in the country by herself.  She has lots of uninterrupted time on her hands and probably wishes she could give it all away. 

Enjoy every minute of it.  Every time you think your head will explode if you hear the word "Mommy" one more time, or have to pick up one more toy.  Make it real.  Think of what life really will be like in 50 years when they are gone and busy and you're not sure what you will do with your time.  Some of that down time, yes, will be wonderful but I bet we'd trade it all in a split second.

God knew I needed this perspective today.  What is a real life story that gives you enough perspective to move past the over-used cliches?