Where is your focus today?
As I sat here listening to Gov. Abbott tell us the plan for opening the state of Texas, I could see our daughter, who is a senior, standing across the room. When Gov. Abbott mentioned schools will be closed for the rest of the year, her shoulders dropped a little. Then when he talked about graduation, or at least some type of plan for it, her shoulders and countenance dropped even more knowing graduation will most likely not happen as she planned. It was the first time I had seen her feelings about this in physical form.
Yes, I hurt for her. I know she wants to wear her cap and gown. She wants to decorate the top of that mortar board so we can “find” her in the sea of black gowns and matching caps. She was excited to receive her graduation package back in March – two days before spring break, two days before her senior year ended, two days before her life of primary education ended. None of us knew those things then, but we have anticipated the announcement confirming that March 13th was actually the last day of school. While this saddens me because of all the things she will miss of her final year, I have to stop. If we only focus on what we have lost, we might miss what is right in front of us. I have to stop and think about the things we have gained over the last few weeks.
God has granted us extra time. For the last 5-6 years, I have used the hashtag #marbles which I later changed to #howareweusingourmarbles. Many people know what this means, but I will share again. When a child is born, there are roughly 936 weeks until he/she graduates or turns 18. Sydney was born in late May, so she will turn 18 right around graduation time. This means our weeks closely align. If you think about those 936 weeks as marbles in a jar, think about this: at the end of each week, you remove a marble from the jar and ask yourself, “What have we done this week to help her become the person we pray she becomes in Christ?” Over time, you will see the marbles disappear, but you will also see the change in your child. You will see her loving others, become a Christian, taking care of her siblings, serving other cultures, falling in love with Jesus.
As many adults know, “the days are long, but the years are short”. Suddenly, our days and weeks are really long because we are all at home together with nowhere to go! However, I ask you to stop and think what you just gained. We don’t have track meets, dance practices, volleyball practices, games, recitals, parties, meetings, etc. taking us all in different directions every night of the week. We DO have time to eat dinner together as a family, time to go fishing together as a family, time to laugh together as a family, time to be silly together as a family, time to ride bikes together as a family, time to watch a movie together as a family, time play a board game together as a family, time to build things together as a family, time to……we have TIME TOGETHER AS A FAMILY!
May we take hold of this time and make the most of it. I don’t think any of us realized how “busy” we were. Enjoy this time with your family. Make good use of your marbles while you still have them. We technically only have 5 marbles left in one of our jars until she turns 18, but I feel God has given us this extra time with all of us at home to reignite the bond we have as a family before she moves and our family is forever different. We are holding onto those “marbles” very carefully as we navigate through the days to come while we are home together. Thank you, God, for extra time! May we embrace what you have given us and are teaching us. Help us not focus on what is lost but on what you are doing and give you glory in all circumstances.
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