Starry Night

Right now everything in our house is quiet.  I’m the only one awake (well, me and our kitten, Coraline).  Even our Golden Retriever, Thurman, is asleep upstairs in Elliot’s room.  I’m not really a night owl though.  Typically I am exhausted by 9 PM and asleep myself by 10.  Today was a busy day though; this week is a busy week.  I needed a few minutes to decompress.  Our kitten has “surgery” this week to keep her from having “baby kittens” (try explaining that to a 7 and a 4 year-old).  Tuesday Sydney takes gymnastics.  Wednesday Sydney’s preschool class is celebrating the end of the school year with a luau.  Thursday Elliot’s class is hosting a young author’s celebration.  On that same day Sydney has Kindergarten placement testing.  Friday is field day for Elliot and also Sydney’s preschool graduation.  And, Elliot still needs to get to indoor swim practice twice this week.  Whew!  Somebody stop this ride because I wanna get out!

I’m not a person who enjoys being overly busy.  When I get too overbooked I start to forget things.  John tells me about appointments, bills, or his work schedule and I don’t remember the details.  I have made a lot of lists to help me get through this week.  I hope I didn’t forget to put something on the list.

I’m reading this great book right now called “WEIRD:  Because Normal Isn’t Working.”  It’s written by the Senior Pastor of LifeChurch, Craig Groeschel.  LifeChurch is a multicampus church in Oklahoma that offers an amazing online experience.  It’s pretty awesome.  I won’t go into detail about the book or the church…it’s worth a Google search though.  One part of this book deals with how we spend time.  We are overscheduled, overworked, overwhelmed, stressed out and exhausted.  One sentence had me grab a highlighter; it’s this:  “If the devil can’t make you really bad, then he will make you really busy.”  Now, upon my own Googling I discover that Pastor Groeschel wasn’t the first to make this statement, that’s fine, I don’t think he intends it to read that way, but it still sticks as really good advice. 

I know I need to say “no” to some things in order to say “yes” to some great things.  There are times though that I don’t really have a choice in the matter.  This week is an example of that.  I cannot say “no” to experiencing the kids’ year end celebrations.  Some appointments cannot wait. 

What I do believe though is that in the midst of the busyness I can still take care of myself. 

I walked outside before I started writing this.  It’s a beautiful night—like that Van Gough painting “Starry Night.”  I could hear crickets chirping, frogs doing whatever that sound is called that frogs do.  There was a slight warm breeze, and I could hear the leaves in the trees rustling.  The stars were shining so bright.  Summer’s so close; I can smell it in the air.  I stood in our driveway for a few minutes, in the dark, warm night and just thanked God for this moment.  I was thankful for that moment.  Thankful to take in what I already did today and what the rest of the week will bring.   I can’t know that I will get to experience that serenity again this week.  But, just for tonight I did. 

“If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (Contemporary English Version).  That verse reminds me that even when I am tired, have a lot going on, feel overburdened, stressed, etc…I need to come to Him and recenter myself.  For it is in that, that I feel renewed.  A woman in my Lifegroup reminded me that everything has an “off switch.”  I’m grateful that I digested her comment because it gave me a wonderful way to end my day.

Thank you for reading.