"Later..."

What a rare treat I had on Sunday! KP actually sat next to me at the early service! Most Sundays, when we enter the choir loft, I see him sitting with his friends in the balcony. Singing in the choir gives me a great vantage point…though I’m sure everyone in the congregation can see me raising my eyebrow at him (the old hairy eyeball trick) if I see him “visiting.” All in all, he’s a good kid…he’s been taught how to behave in church from the time he was a toddler.

All week long I watch him alternate between the raucous, rowdy sixth-grader who's too busy to sit and talk to mom, and the little boy who still wants to stretch out across my lap for a quick back scratch before bedtime. I have to confess that I miss my snuggly boy when he rushes thru homework and dinner to spend the last scraps of the afternoon outside, scootering up and down the street, visiting with his buddies around the corner for those few frantic moments between daylight and dark, negotiating for a few more minutes before the bedtime ritual of shower and toothbrushing. After he’s at long last given in to us and it’s time for “lights out,” he goes to his bedroom, and starts to turn on the TV, and every urging is met with the ever-present whine, "later...later..."

Although I find myself scolding my child for this, I see that we all spread ourselves so thin that we rarely take the time to just sit together and enjoy our family and our home. Then, if that's not bad enough, we seem to struggle in our “busy-ness” and give God only what's left at the end of our daylight, and at the end of our energy, and at the end of our consciousness...and generally, that's precious little. I can only imagine how God must feel when He sees us scurrying here and there, constantly negotiating for more time for our own pursuits, constantly replying, "later...later..."

“Father, You watch me and wait for me to come to You for rest, for strength, for help in my time of need. You are faithful…always there for me when I need You, and even when I think I don’t. Forgive me when I sometimes put You off. You know how I foolishly think I can invite You into my life whenever I have time for You, when You already hold my life in the hollow of Your hand. You patiently wait for me to realize that You’ve been drawing me close all along.”