In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Ps. 127:2
Reflections on recovering from vacation.
We returned home from our vacation early this week. My suitcase still sits on my bedroom floor, a trail of shampoo bottles, swimsuits, a sweatshirt, pajamas, and flipflops slowly wending its way out of vacation mode and back into normal circulation. I usually like to get life back into normal order as soon as possible, detesting disarray. After a delicious vacation, though, sometimes it's nice to let it linger, like I could just zipper the suitcase back up again and we would be back on the beach with our feet in the sand. Maybe tomorrow I'll finally get the suitcases back up to the attic.
We put in three long, tiring, and very productive days at work last week, jumping back in at arguably the busiest season in a school's calendar. There are new families to enroll, an Open House to plan, a mammoth library cataloging process to finish, and paperwork to start prepping for the beginning of school (a mere 22 days off). We are still shifting some classrooms around and trying to get the building situated for the 15-16 school year. There's a lot to juggle and with both of us being on staff, it makes for a busy schedule. We're excited and anxious, in equal parts, for the start of the school year.
I returned from nine days in a spotless beach house feeling motivated to bring some of that cleanliness home. I spent a few hours yesterday scouring the wood trim in my kitchen, then a half hour or so today tackling the weeds that totally conquered our gardens while we were away. I also brought home a bit of the carefree spirit that finally caught up with me during our vacation. While it would be in my nature to prefer all or nothing when it comes to keeping house, I have a greater sense this week of do what you can. While Henry napped I was able to scrub some baseboards. Maybe I won't scrub the rest of them until weeks from now. I have a pile of sweet potatoes on the counter to peel, slice, toss with cinnamon, and bake as a snack for Henry. Though the task begged to be done this afternoon, I took a 20 minute nap instead and then sat down for this post. I do what I can.
My passage for meditation this week (quoted at the top of this post) was Psalm 127. The psalm reminds - in three ways - that we cannot trust in ourselves. Not for establishment, for protection, or for sustenance. The building of a house, Solomon writes, will be a futile effort if the Lord does not smile on the task and undertake to be the Master Builder. The guarding of a city will be hopeless if the Lord does not stand watch Himself. And the endless work to gather and prepare and stockpile the necessities of life will be in vain if the Lord is not recognized and trusted as the giver of all good things. This passage, in conjunction with the book I'm reading with my Bible Study group, has highlighted the importance of taking notice of where I place my trust. Trust is a tricky thing to identify, though. Sure, I trust in God.
Sorting out how much I trust in Him is done by watching my thoughts, my
words, the places I get annoyed and angry, the situations that seem most
important to me. Which decisions do I base on the predicted opinions of others? What parts of life to I entrust solely to myself, the only person I can safely control? What do I list as a "need" that is nothing more than something that would make my life comfortable? Give these questions some thought with me this week.
Grateful this week for:
napping toddler on the way home from the beach
affordable groceries
Murphy's oil soap
discard library books
leftover ice cream bars
cozy bed
clean towels
diaper rash cream
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