And So I Sit.....

Well with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years over I immediately find myself looking forward to the next holiday.  Already in my mind planning how we will celebrate Valentines day and even starting to contemplate Easter!  (I know that sounds insane but that is how my mind is.)  Sometimes I'll call my mom and ask what she has planned for a Saturday two months from now and she says, "I have absolutely no clue, honey. I don't plan things that far in advance!"  I do!  Always!  And although sometimes thats a good thing alot of times it's really not.  In being the kind of person who plans things out forever ahead of time, I find that I have a tendency to rush through the here and now.  Our Pastor in Charlotte always says, "Redeem the time!"  I realized these past several months I don't know if I've redeemed one moment!  We took the kids this morning into town to McDonald's for breakfast, to celebrate the end of the first half of our school year and their good grades, and I made sure that I didn't worry about anything but what we were doing right that moment.  It was wonderful!!  At one point Bella looked up at me and said, "Isn't this fun just to be together like this?"  Out of the mouths of babes!  Yes, it is nice just to be together! In Ecclesiastes 3 the Bible says:

  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Wouldn't it be sad if we were using our times of laughter to morn?   And so I sit, contemplating what I will do tomorrow to ensure that I redeem my time with my husband and my kids!  What will you do tomorrow to enjoy or embrace the "time" the Lord has you in right now?