Good Friday. I didn't sleep well last night, and woke up tired and out of sorts this morning. The first thing on my mind was my book of lists. Yes, I am a list person. I like lists. I have grocery lists, things to repair lists, things I would like to buy lists, and the all important Things to do list. Things to do can incorporate things to do for the year, month, and week, as well as for the day. Long term and short term. Today I was all about the short term. The Grandies are coming for an overnight visit tomorrow and I have a formidable amount of work that needs to be done first. Small things and large things, such as, obviously, the regular housework, dishes, laundry and vacuuming floors, and making sure we have the food they like to eat. And then there are some small things, such as cleaning all the junk out of the closet that I have thrown on top of their toys since the last time they paid us a visit. Also, since I am taking pictures of them in their Easter finery, I have to make sure my camera is in order, and I have the delight of filling their Easter baskets this year. We are going to church on Sunday morning and I have to make sure they have dresses, shoes, hairbows, etc. There is a lot to be done. In addition to this, I promised my daughter, who is having an Easter party with an egg hunt at her house, that I would fill all the eggs with candy for her, to save her time. And in addition to THAT, my wonderful neighbor has been working on my deck the last several weeks (stay tuned for an upcoming story on how that all came about) and he has needed my help removing the old deck boards, putting down new ones, and getting ready to paint and stain. I feel like I have been going in circles for awhile, and not really accomplishing much lately.
But today would be different. Except it wasn't. The first thing on my list was to go to the hardware store for the stain. Problem. The hardware store is out of the stain we need. Arg. Back home without the stain (circles again) and decide I need to go through my shed to see if we have anything useable. But that will have to wait because nurses are coming for the weekly check on the Mr. And, Sue, the Mr.'s. home health nurse, who comes three times a week is already at the house waiting for us. She is bringing me some extra plastic eggs she has for the Easter Egg hunt. My plan is to fill them later this afternoon. That will also have to wait, though, because we don't have the candy for that yet. That is going to require a trip to the Dollar Tree, maybe after I dig through the shed for the stain. But first, the Mr. has to have his lunch and afternoon meds. This is how the day has gone. I seem to be spinning my wheels. Not much accomplishment on the list.
By afternoon I am kind of panicked. The kids are going to be here and I really have to get these things done. I look at my list with dismay. I haven't managed to check much off. And I am already tired.
By dinner we decide that we aren't cooking. We make it to the dollar tree for the candy and then grab a bite to eat at the Italian restaurant. While we are eating I am thinking of my list. (Hello, my name is Julie, and I am a list addict). I have come up with a plan. Since I can't do anything outside, I will do the inside stuff tonight and the outside stuff tomorrow. I may not have mentioned that I have several things on that list to do in the yard, as well, such as move the plants I bought yesterday to the patio in the back of the yard temporarily, and away from the deck, where they currently are, until the deck is finished. Also I still have to make a photo area to shoot the girls in, with their pretty Easter dresses and baskets. Also I need to mow the yard. Also, the Mr. is smoking all the meat tomorrow, for my daughter's Easter party and he is most certainly going to need my help.
But if I tackle the inside things today, there should be plenty of time for the outside stuff tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, of course.
After we get home from dinner I throw myself into my tasks, and I am just about done when something curious happens. The housework is done, the camera is ready, the Easter baskets are filled. The closet is cleaned, the dog has gone out, the Mr. has had his meds...I am tired, really tired. Feet aching tired. I am filling the plastic Easter eggs with candy for my daughter, using the eggs brought this morning by Sue.
I notice there is something in one of them. I open it up and I am surprised as I can be when out falls a...rock? I am amused. I figure that must have been a booby prize on some long ago Easter Egg hunt. I pick up another and open it and out comes...a tiny rubber eraser in the shape of a leaf. Okaaaay...When I open up the third egg, out comes a tiny rubber purple cross...and then...a tiny rubber... chalice? That's odd...The next egg makes it all clear, though. I open up the next egg and out comes a nail. Ahhh, NOW I
get it. What follows in the next three is a bit of straw and a plastic coin with an eagle on one side, and also a piece of white fabric.
I stop filling the eggs with candy. I look at all the pieces on the table. Then I put them in order. Stillness comes. I am quiet. I get it. It's the Gospel, from the Manger to the empty tomb. The Lord has my full attention as I contemplate the diorama before me. He has gone straight to the heart of the matter. Skipped all the candy and the Easter bunny, and all the fru fru that means nothing. All the candy will be gone in the next day or so. The junk in the Easter eggs will break, or be lost or forgotten in time. The dresses will be outgrown, The family will grow up and move away. But the gospel...will never die, never wear out, never be outgrown will never move away.
Thank you, Lord, for the reminder of what today is really about. It isn't about lists, or eggs, or candy, or Easter dresses, or even family coming over to visit, as wonderful as that is. It is about YOU. YOU went to that cross to free us from the sin that keeps us chained. YOU set us free so that we could have abundant and everlasting life. Help me not get so caught up in the things I need to do today, that I neglect the one thing that I MUST do today, and that is to give you the praise, glory and honor that belongs to you. If I miss that, then I miss the whole point. In Jesus holy name, Amen.
1 comment:
Love your writing, Hudie Ann.
Post a Comment