Every Moment (Saturday Brunch)

I am long on staying. I am slow to leave,
Especially when it comes to you my friend.
You have taught me to slow down,
And to prop up my feet.
It's the fine art of being who I am.

And I can't figure out why you want me around.
I'm not the smartest person I have ever met.
But somehow that doesn't matter,
No it really never mattered to you at all.

And at the risk of wearing out my welcome.
At the risk of self-discovery,
I'll take every moment,
And every minute that you give me.

-Every Minute; Sara Groves

Monday night dinners with the Scalf’s are always a blessing, but the day has been long lived. The kids are wound & winding down. There is a quiet weariness to the adults around the dinner table. It is the wrapping up of a day.

This past week we chose to do Saturday brunch – Frank’s donuts for the kids & Great Bagel for the adults.

I am very much a part of the family.  I know this house. I know the inner workings of the rooms & the people who reside in them.

The day started with Sophie riding along with me to pick up the bagels in Lexington. I prayed our entire trip that I would simply be present in this moment with her. This beautiful inquisitive brilliant child/woman talked with me the entire trip about our Florida trip last year, the coming trip, her auditioning for “Cinderella”, etc… It is glorious to see this beautiful being grow into a young lady. I pray that she will have a freedom to always be the person God has created her to be.

The rest of the morning/early afternoon consisted of me percolating some “White Chocolate Mousse” Coffee, helping Amy slice & toast bagels; raving over how delicious the cream cheese & lochs were, etc…

Amy made Wyatt his own special chocolate donut, Rachael & Steven had their second donut of the day. We sat down & just shared life.

At one point Steven says, “I want you Wissa, don’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving, buddy!”

“But, I can’t see you.”

I was sitting in the kitchen & he was on the couch.

The day was simple. I loved helping Rachael & Steven get dressed. We looked at places we might stay in Florida. I washed dishes & helped carry laundry downstairs.

Amy & I drank long on our coffee.

I snuggled, rubbing cold toes, & kissing round heads that smell like heaven.

There was nothing extraordinary about the day. It was in the ordinary that the grace of life simply happened. In this moment my prayer was answered. I had lived fully that morning. I had relished putting my hands in soapy water, the heavenly sent of coffee wafting, the taste of warm bagels with cream cheese, the laughter & joy of “tiny human” humor.

The Sara Groves song flooded my thoughts. There had never been more apt words spoken, “I am long on staying, & slow to leave…”

God simply asks us to live our lives out…with Him. It does not have to be on the mission fields of Haiti or shared with the cadence of Ann Voskamp. In fact, the notes can be off key, the words simple & meager. It isn’t the words you use to say a thing, nor the greatness of what your act brings. The truth is small. It is sacred. It is in the simple words, “I love you.” It is in the simple act of giving someone a hug.

The ordinary is transformed to extraordinary with these moments. The red cord that binds our hearts to His also binds our hearts to others. He pulls the thread ever tighter binding us closer to His heart. This is what it means to be bound together in Christian love.

So, this year, don’t stress over the things that need to be done, but care about the hearts of the people who are coming undone. Worry less about your social network status, & find fellowship with another, real life, human being.

The time we have is short &…”I’ll take every moment, & every minute that you’ll give me.”

11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.  12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  17 These things I command you, that you love one another. – John 15: 11-17