Too Old, October 22, Daily Reflection

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“I am too old to be in a hurry” said an older man in the line behind be at the grocery store the other day.  I had a shopping cart overflowing with items.  I was trying to get as much as possible so I would not have to go back for two weeks.  I looked at his cart he had only three items.  I said, “Sir, why don’t you go ahead of me.  You only have a few items and mine will take forever.”  That’s when he said it in an aged voice of patience and reason without hesitation or any thought, ” I am too old to be in a hurry.”

The words struck me right there in aisle 7 of Meijers putting my toilet paper on the conveyor belt.  In my rush of trying to get through the shopping trip with a constant eye on my watch.  I had my littlest with me along with the 2 year old I babysit and I was very aware of the time due to lunch and nap schedules.  I knew I would have to unload all the groceries,feed them lunch get her down for a nap and then wake her at a certain time so I could go to get my kids from school along with the other kids I babysit after school.  Not to mention all that I have to do after school.  So yes, I guess I was noticably in a hurry.  I think I tend to live my normal life in a hurry!  It seems as though every sentence I say to my family at home ends with “I will be right back or I will do it quickly.”

What mom has time to sit around watch tv and eat bon bons?  Please let me know how that  is a possiblity?  My life is lived off of lists made the night before of the next day so I do not leave anything out.  My life is lived in a hurry.  There are a few times when I slow down.  When I sit down and eat  dinner with my family, we don’t even answer the phone.  We just talk with each other about our days, there exists no hurrying at that table, when we actually get to sit and eat dinner together. When I sit down with each child at night and we pray together and talk about his/her day.  When I sit down with my husband after the children are in bed and we talk or watch a show together.  Those are the times when I try to force myself to not hurry.

Was the stranger wise about his time and life?  Of course he was he has lived the youth of speed and racing the clock.  Someday I believe we will each get to where he is in life. Right now as moms we all know that we need to slow down but truly we need to put it on the list if we want it to get done.  It’s like I tell my husband all the time about the grocery list “If it wasn’t on the list I did not buy it”.  Can we learn from the older stranger?  Yes, there is a time for everything.

“There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. 

A time to be born, and a time to die;  a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. 

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. 

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. 

A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.  

A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. 

A time to rend, and a time to sew;  a time to be silent, and a time to speak. 

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war , and a time of peace.”

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

As moms

Ours is a time to love without thought

and to give without counting the cost. 

Ours is a time to teach our children

 by our example, our priorities. 

 Ours is a time to raise our children

and

form lasting bonds with each one of them. 

Ours is a time that is precious, short and timeless. 

 Let us not hurry through it

 and

miss it all to get the important things done first. 

For one day we too will say “I am too old to be in a hurry”.

 

 

 

One Response

  1. Amy D.

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