My mom, my aunt Judy, a close family friend, Nancy, and my niece Savanna all came for a visit a couple of months ago. It was an extraordinarily good time and they are just super fun people. We laughed a lot about silly things. They told a simple story of how, on their drive, Nancy almost ran off the side of road because she was “looking for crayons”. To be honest, I have no idea why that was so funny, but we laughed multiple times about it. For whatever reason, that phrase stuck with me for quite a while after they left. I realized that I find myself looking for crayons all the time. Being distracted from the path I’m on by a multitude of other things scattered around me. There is no doubt that I am a busy person and we are a busy family, but that busyness cannot be a distraction from my path of peace and joy in this life. To continue with my lovely metaphor, what are those crayons that keep me distracted?
Well last week there was that red crayon that resembled me rushing frantically to get one kid picked up from practice in time to make it to another kid’s game. It stole my joy to show up late at the exact moment he was being taken out of the game, but was there anything I could do about that? My life is full of time frames and expectations, but rushing and being upset because I missed a part of his game was just a distraction from the real goal of experiencing the joy that comes with watching my kid play ball.
Then, there is that blue crayon which represents the worry of having multiple teenagers in the home who need parenting, good parenting that requires being present and in the moment with them. It is exhausting, but let me be clear, the worry is the distraction and my teenagers are my work. I don’t always have peace because raising kids is hard, and sometimes my worry is a huge distraction from the big picture. I worry about kids driving. I worry about kids making poor choices. I worry about their grades in school. I worry about their health. I worry about their social skills, or lack thereof. I worry if I’m doing enough to help them become everything they are destined to become. My path is supposed to be seeking and living peace, but I keep looking for that stupid blue crayon.
I chose a yellow crayon to represent that dreaded term, expectations! Not necessarily my expectations, but those of everyone around me. That yellow crayon of expectation has been known to steal my joy as it determines whether my children and I are abreast of the latest school trends; it takes note of whether I am volunteering for every school event; and it comments about my ability to stay up-to-date on everyone’s dental hygiene. I mean come on! The expectations that everyone puts on me are outrageous at best. I say all of that with the knowledge that I do have a choice in the matter. I could just keep my eyes on the road and stop looking around me. I don’t have to accept other people’s expectations as my own, but it does serve as a mighty distraction to me.
Going down the road of life really has to be about always moving forward. I will admit that I tend to swerve a lot as I seek my peace and do my best to live in joy, but those distractions are real and the only thing I know to do is to pick up my crayons and create a beautiful life, full of color.
Many Blessings,
Lori
Well last week there was that red crayon that resembled me rushing frantically to get one kid picked up from practice in time to make it to another kid’s game. It stole my joy to show up late at the exact moment he was being taken out of the game, but was there anything I could do about that? My life is full of time frames and expectations, but rushing and being upset because I missed a part of his game was just a distraction from the real goal of experiencing the joy that comes with watching my kid play ball.
Then, there is that blue crayon which represents the worry of having multiple teenagers in the home who need parenting, good parenting that requires being present and in the moment with them. It is exhausting, but let me be clear, the worry is the distraction and my teenagers are my work. I don’t always have peace because raising kids is hard, and sometimes my worry is a huge distraction from the big picture. I worry about kids driving. I worry about kids making poor choices. I worry about their grades in school. I worry about their health. I worry about their social skills, or lack thereof. I worry if I’m doing enough to help them become everything they are destined to become. My path is supposed to be seeking and living peace, but I keep looking for that stupid blue crayon.
I chose a yellow crayon to represent that dreaded term, expectations! Not necessarily my expectations, but those of everyone around me. That yellow crayon of expectation has been known to steal my joy as it determines whether my children and I are abreast of the latest school trends; it takes note of whether I am volunteering for every school event; and it comments about my ability to stay up-to-date on everyone’s dental hygiene. I mean come on! The expectations that everyone puts on me are outrageous at best. I say all of that with the knowledge that I do have a choice in the matter. I could just keep my eyes on the road and stop looking around me. I don’t have to accept other people’s expectations as my own, but it does serve as a mighty distraction to me.
Going down the road of life really has to be about always moving forward. I will admit that I tend to swerve a lot as I seek my peace and do my best to live in joy, but those distractions are real and the only thing I know to do is to pick up my crayons and create a beautiful life, full of color.
Many Blessings,
Lori
No comments:
Post a Comment