The Perfect Christmas Gift

So, I have been trying to figure out how to blog about this without giving away the gift...

I guess, the best thing to say is that the best gift is usually the one that is the most thoughtful even if it isn't the most expensive one on someone's list...

And sometimes it is the most expensive one on someone's list, but sometimes God provides a little prodding in order to make your impossible plans a reality...

I have had both this season and I can't wait to see their faces as they open their gifts! That is truly a great feeling!!!

Quiet Time...

First it was a trusted friend commenting on my daily need to process "stepping back and letting the Holy Spirit work"...

Then it was a practical recommendation from a resource I am using to lead a small group study.

Then it was another practical recommendation from that same resource in regards to a different strength.

Then it was a little voice in my prayer time in the shower.

I need to take time for quiet reflection.

WAIT A SECOND!!! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???

I am a busy person.

I have a busy schedule.

I am with people all day.

When I am not with people, I am communicating with people.

When I am not communicating with people, I am preparing notes or agendas.

When I am not preparing notes, I am preparing lunch or dinner.

If I am not preparing a meal, I am doing any number of possible tasks!!!!

WHEN AM I SUPPOSED TO HAVE TIME FOR QUIET REFLECTION???

Okay, I'm done. I'm calm. Deep breath.

These messages, this theme, is a message from God. He knows better than I. If He is telling me to take quiet time who am I to question? Now, the question becomes, how do I find the time?

And the answer is...I make it.

This practice of "making time" is never mastered, but it is an important one to practice. It is a matter of reviewing my day and building it in. If it means taking my lunch into the day chapel, I schedule it in. If 4:00 rolls around, I add a few minutes onto my drive home (not hard to do when I am 3 minutes from the house...) If I have chores to do, sometimes my quiet time is over laundry (that just means I have to talk and listen instead of read or write). Sometimes it is meeting God at the sink or at the stove. Sometimes it means getting up before the sun for a quiet, extra hot shower. If it means making time before bed it may mean a little less sleep. (This same principal of "making time" is crucial to marriages as well...)

Nothing is more important than making time to talk with God and reflect on His beauty and presence. The key is that He doesn't always ask us to forego the needs of our family in order to make time for Him. He just wants your attention while your hands are busy.

In 99% of cases, if we are honest with ourselves, the time is there...we just have to use it that way.

And then the trick is: make it count.

The Blessing and Curse of Routine...

I love routine...it makes my life liveable...

My weekly routine goes like this (most of the time...)

Sunday: Morning Mass...sometimes three of them if I am working...load of laundry...12 o'clock football...change laundry...3 o'clock football...fold laundry...order Chinese food...write weekly menu...
Monday: Work...budget and bills for week...catch up with friends while Kevin is at class...make late supper...
Tuesday: Early morning meeting...work...home for random chores or projects...parish meeting hopping (Tuesday is everyone's favorite meeting night)...come home to hockey...
Wednesday: Work...work...work...home for a leftovers or frozen (originally from scratch mind you!)...faith formation night...possibly come home to hockey...
Thursday: Work...work...work...actually spend time with my husband...usually putting away Sunday's folded laundry...you guessed it, hockey...
Friday: Work...work...prep for weekend church work...spend time with my husband...usually sleeping or vegging in front of the TV...hopefully "What Not to Wear"...
Saturday: Wake up...morning errands...afternoon projects...dinner...maybe a date night...

And here is a rundown of my daily routine (most of the time...)

6:30 Wake up and push my sleeping husband into the shower
6:35 Take temperature
6:40 Roll out of body, sweep hair into rubber band, trip on a hanger, stumble into the kitchen
6:45 Make Kevin's oatmeal and lunch and pour his coffee
6:50 Kiss Kevin goodbye and attempt to pour my own coffee
7:00 (Yes it takes me 10 minutes to pour my coffee...) Turn on the TODAY show and begin stretching
7:15 Sit ups
7:25 Sit and drink coffee for a BLESSED five minutes!!!
7:30 Shower, dress, dig and search for my name badge, change clothes, find shoes
7:55 Leave for work
8:00-11:30 Work (meaning, follow up on projects, make phone calls, gab with the staff, listen to the Holy Spirit...)
11:30 Eat lunch early (or I'm crabby!!!)
12:00-4:00 Work (meaning, well you know what I mean!)
4:00 Go home...do MY chores before Kevin gets home...clean kitchen, write bills, start dinner, release and feed the hounds (the cats)...if I'm lucky, workout...
5:00 Kevin gets home, eat early (or I'm crabby!!!)
6:30 Typically meetings...rarely dinner with friends...
8:00 Home...crash on the couch...watch hockey or play video games...
9:00 Drink my tea
9:30 Bedtime routine which consists of finding a t-shirt, closing the closet doors (yes, I'm a little paranoid...) and crawling into bed...
9:31 I'm out...gone...fast asleep...won't wake 'till morning...

Why did I just regale you with my routines? Because routine is a beautiful thing...it is also a thing of great amusement and great frustration...out of my routine, I'm a little off-kilter...but too "on" my routine and I get frustated by the fact that it just "starts over"...I never get out of it!! The laundry never gets DONE!!! The dishes are never CLEAN!!! My menu is never SET!!! The budget is never BALANCED!!! Life is constantly moving and routine is just that...moving...planning...doing...

My point is, we have to shake it up a little bit!!! Sometimes we have to throw a wrench in our routine...sometimes you just have to toss the plans out the window and do something completely unexpected...otherwise all you are is your routine! :)