Sunny Side Up May 11, 2005 �2005, Kathleen Gibson Put the big rocks in first I can't help but notice�the sky bloomed blue this morning. The thermometer on the tree shot up to a balmy twelve. And every day the maple buds outside my office window sprout another quarter inch. In a few weeks I'll peek at the sky through a canopy of green. The thought tickles. Like many writers, I work from a home office, on my own schedule. Most days I'm at my computer by about 8:30 in the morning (sometimes in P.J's!). I research, answer mail, then write until the words go away. Sometimes I stare out the window, thinking. Usually I stop to grab lunch. Frequently the Preacher brings it to me. Many days the sun's rays climb up that window, above it, and finally reach the other side of the house before I stop. I quit early on the days I realize that not even my favorite editor wants the long string of aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas on the screen, (or whatever letter my hand was pressing when I nodded off). When that happens, I leave the office and do something a little less cerebral. Exercise. Call someone. Fold clothes. Eat chocolate. But the times�.they are a changin'. "I'm taking a 'grammaternity' leave; paring down my schedule," I said after our grandbaby, Benjamin, was born. "I want to be around as much as possible the first year of his life." So I've refused speaking engagements, signed off some community responsibilities, relaxed my standards in many areas. I've left things incomplete. Cancelled appointments. If I'm to grab this opportunity to watch Benjamin grow, it means making time. Babies don't keep. Nevertheless, God hasn't yet released me from the calling to write that causes me to cheerfully ignore so much of life swirling around me while I sit and click. Like today. Our neighbours are holding a street-long garage sale. I hear car doors slamming, people laughing. This house bulges with clutter - I could be out there, selling it off. Enjoying people, enjoying spring. Loving the sensation of lightness as each bit of clutter leaves my domain. I could be - but I'm not. I have a column to complete. Like my budding maple, my season is changing. My schedule is messy these days; not as structured as I like it. But I'm enjoying my grandbaby whenever I can, and I'm still writing. All other activities except for those things that are intrinsic firsts - God, the disciplines of my faith, my marriage - I'm learning to tuck in around the edges of those. Someone compared making time for life's most important things to filling a jar with large rocks, gravel and sand. The only way to do it is if you put the rocks (vital things) in first, pour the gravel (less important things) around them, and let the sand (unimportant things) seep in last of all. One of my favorite scriptures is "Teach me to order my days that I may gain a heart of wisdom." When your rocks don't fit, make that your prayer too. Respond Home |
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