THE WEEK...

Just as the roads outside have been hard to manage, so too have the goals I have set. I’ve been slipping with them just as I have slipped on the ice outside...

And the ruts...Like those in the streets...Are difficult to get out of.



It has been just over 12 years since I have had a good routine at home. Back then...My house was in order and clean, meals were routinely cooked...I had a garden...home-schooled...and accomplished other domesticities. Upon going to work, those things...though not by design...took a back seat.

It is my desire now...To meld my two worlds, as indeed that is what they seem to me to be...Into one...

So, as I have been in this rut for over a decade, it is time for a change. Ruts are very difficult to get out of…ask anyone who has been in one for any length of time. Nonetheless…They CAN be overcome, and I intend to do so!



I just love opportunity...Don’t you? A fresh week…To start anew…To put behind past failures and to have another go. The Lord gave us this; for He does not want us to fail...And, I use those words very lightly, for we do not fail until we stop trying…

FLEXIBILITY

I was always blessed with the ability to be flexible and could never quite understand those around me who were less so. Well…these days, I tend to be more rigid myself. Maybe it’s part of aging…Maybe it’s part of becoming more organized…I want to stick to my schedule…

That is okay…TO A POINT…

For we must always remember what is most important…

Family…

People…

Helping others...

These MUST always come first…Else why are we here?



One day this past week...I was determined to carry out my schedule…To accomplish my goals for the week. It was Friday night, and I had my bedding to change from the previous night’s chore, which I hadn’t gotten done…I also had my chore for that night to do. It was late evening, and I started about working…

DS came down to talk. We talked for a bit while I padiddled around. I figured that shortly he would go about his business, and I would commence with my own duties…But, he stayed…

It was midnight and beyond by the time we finished talking…He was concerned about college, finances, marriage and relationships, and the like…

In the past, the Lord blessed me to be mainly Mary (see the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible when Christ is visiting in their home). Now, however, as years have passed, and also with my new goals of organization, Martha resides within me to a great extent…

And, that night she was yelling that I HAD to get my chores done…I had goals to accomplish…I had a deadline to meet! “Get on with it!” she yelled…”How will you feel if you don’t get the bathroom cleaned?!...Get busy!”

I made a choice…Martha would have to be quiet…

I had a son…A precious son who needed me more. How honored I was—and always am—when my children want to talk to ME…Not a friend…But ME. He will be gone in just over a month…I want to treasure every spare moment that he will give me.

While I prefer this rendition of the story...

This one better portrays the concern on Martha's face that her sister is not helping her...

I never want to be one of those that says, when a member of their family has passed on, “If only”…

If only I had spent more time with them…If only I showed my love more…If only…

The bathroom will always be there ready to share its dirt with me, but I will NOT always have the opportunity of Family whenever I want it…

And So…

I try to take that opportunity whenever it presents itself.

SIDE NOTE

Dear Son just walked in to show me his new Pumas…He has waited for two years (didn’t want to spend the $80) and was just able to purchase them for $34!

It’s these little things that really are the big things…those that matter most….

I want to be remembered as a mom who cared…Not only about the big things in life…but the seemingly insignificant as well.

I pray that we may all choose to Love our families…To Love those around us…And to be the Mary in other people’s lives.