Not too many years ago, I wondered if life would always be a hectic whirlwind of activities. The calendar was rainbow colored, a different color for each member of the family plus orange for ‘ALL family event’. Would there ever be time to do all the laundry, wash, fold, AND put away, in one day? The sounds that filled this old farmhouse:
giggling,
talking,
teasing,
playing drums, trombone, clarinet, piano,
arguing,
reading,
praying.
Beautiful sounds, yet some days I longed for quiet. Peace and quiet.
The Lord knew what he was doing when one child at a time moved out and into their own home. This Momma would not have known what to do if they had all left at once! Just as they were added to the family one at a time, and necessary adjustments were made, the same has been done in reverse.
Peace and quiet have returned to this old farmhouse. I don’t have to rush through my shower, or be paged while in the bathroom. However, some days it seems too quiet. Those are the days that I especially miss my children and their families, and I long for the miles between us to be erased. It is so selfish of me to want to have them close. We live in a day of instant messaging, video calling, photo sharing, and telephoning most anywhere they may be. How did the Momma’s say final farewells as their children boarded the ships to sail the ocean blue? How did they say goodbye as they rolled away in rattly, bumpy wagons to a land wild and unknown? With our modern technology, the miles seem much shorter than they did even thirty-some years ago when I moved 6 states away from where I always called home. Sometimes this old farmhouse is more than quiet, it is SILENT, and in the absence of my bustling family I miss the sounds of:
giggling,
talking,
teasing,
playing drums, trombone, clarinet, piano,
arguing,
reading,
praying.
However, I am reminded that they are not mine to cling to, and by doing so I would essentially be putting them above God. In the Bible we are told to seek God above everything. My love for my family should never supersede my love for God! My children were given to me to love, raise, teach and then release to go wherever God calls them. I tend to need reminders to release rather than clutch, whether they are in Kansas, Guatemala, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Russia, Africa…
Thank you, Lord, for today’s quiet moments. Thank you, that when this old farmhouse seems too silent, you fill it with whispers of love, encouragement, reassurance, forgiveness, peace, and your presence.
homespun happenings 