I had been looking forward to today for several days. There’s just nothing like anticipating a lazy Saturday. I had no plans, no place I needed to go, and I was happily waiting for a day to just read, putter around getting a few things done, and watching a little TV with my peeps.
And it was exactly the way I’d pictured it, except for all the things I needed to, and the places I had to go…
The day had a lazy start to it, for me. The Apple of my Eye was up and out early for a meeting having to do with the teen Bible study he teaches. But the kids and I stayed home and in our jammies, and ate a late breakfast and watched some TV.
But then my daughter suggested we all take the dog for a walk along a nearby creek trail. It had been several days since the dog had had a walk (although every day she gets to run around the backyard chasing tennis balls and rope toys and stuffed hedgehogs and the like) and we knew we could all use the exercise, so off we went.
The problem was, it’s November in Southern California. Which means it was hot. You’ve heard it said, haven’t you, that the four seasons in Southern California are Early Summer, Summer, Late Summer, and Next Summer? Well this is Late Summer. 86 degrees today. Really not my favorite walking weather. You’d think, after 25+ years of living here, that my body and my brain would stop expecting Autumn to feel like Autumn…
And then in the evening we needed to drive our beautiful girl to a friend’s house for a sleepover, which was more complicated than it needed to be because my sweetie’s iProduct gave us directions to the Residents Only gate of the gated community and and then we had find our way to the Guest Entrance where we had to wait around while the guard called the homeowner because they’d forgotten to leave our name at the gate. After that we had to stop at the store for a couple of dinner items. All-in-all not really the kind of pointless sitting around I was hoping for.
In addition there was, of course, the making of lunch and dinner and the doing of dishes and a little bit of laundry and grading schoolwork and next week’s lesson plans and working on my Bible study homework and cleaning the kitchen floor where something got spilled and hanging up clothes in my bedroom…
Truth is, we’re meant to be busy people. God’s got stuff for us to do and as fond as I am of Rest and Relaxation, it shouldn’t be my default and it shouldn’t be my goal. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy rest when He provides it, it just means I should get just as much joy out of accomplishing things that need to be done.
Light Expectations 