Gearing Up...



I went to bed last night at 12:15AM, so technically it would be this morning.  My body only let me sleep until 4:08AM.  I came downstairs to the chair and laid back for a while to sleep until 5:30.  I kept hearing things, so I got up, grabbed my sweater, clipboard and pencil and headed for the pantry.  I took a good look at what we had and needed in there, the upright and chest freezers as well as the basement kitchen refrigerator. 

Each freezer has a function.  The upright freezer is to hold all of our frozen vegetables, butter, cheese and juice.  The chest freezer holds all of our meat.  The freezer in the  basement refrigerator holds all of our bread items.  The upstairs freezer holds small bags of things that have already been opened as well as my baking yeast.  Each Spring, my basement refrigerator freezer gets manually defrosted.  My upstairs refrigerator freezer gets cleaned out and things used up.  All this in preparation for the harvest.  Once gardening season begins, time is of the essense, so I try to do all these things before things begin.

This morning I am gearing up for my Mega Shop day.  I may go shopping by myself andrequest that my husband do school with the children while I'm gone.  It is good for him and for the children to him to teach them.  I enjoy going shopping by myself every once in a while, but not all the time.  I enjoy the thought that my husband is investing his time in his children.  I spend all day, every day with them.  I love my children, but there is a time when they need to be handed over to their Father for a relationship when they are 2.  Sure, before that time, but it was usually around the age of 2 that my kids were weaned, give or take a few months.  A Daddy is a wonderful asset for a child's life.  He prepares the boys to be men and the girls to be women and how to expect to be treated by potential suitors.  Recently we watched the movie "Courageous".  These principals rang through in the movie.  I'm so thankful for that reaffirmation. 

Today, as I go out, I feel rather melancholy.  I am walking forward, forever changed by the events that have formed my life and moulded me in to the person I am today.  I am leaving the past behind me and looking forward to the future.  My children have but a small amount of time left until adulthood.  I pray that the next few years of their time with us would be fruitful, beautiful and good times to remember.  As I look at the past [leaving it behind, of course] I am just a little sad.  I wish I could go back and hug and hold them a little longer, play with them lots more and pray with them, work with them more.  But, the next few years, I will enjoy when they come up to me and hug me, I'll enjoy when we go for walks, take our school work down to the river, pray with them and work with them, side-by-side. 

Gearing up for today, it is the beginning of a corridor that I always thought I would enjoy--their independence, able to help around the house and do a good job.  I do enjoy it, but I know there are many who are looking forward to this time in their life with eager anticipation.  They're looking forward to it, hoping and preparing for it.  To that I say, wait, linger right where you are a little longer.  Cherish what you have right now at this very moment.  You'll never get it back again and you'll be living with your memories, good or bad. 

In my gearing up, I'll linger a little longer...smile, hug and say, "I love you.  You are a blessing to me."  In all my organizing and planning, it is all for nothing if I don't have love and show genuine love to those around me.