It was on my to-do list to complete a blog post yesterday. I had set aside an hour yesterday afternoon to create and publish.
As I prepared to sit at my computer, I heard the sound of a key in my front door and the creaky hinges as the door opened. 4:08pm. Strange. My husband doesn’t get off work for another hour, and my daughter lives an hour and a half away. I warily called out a greeting and was met with the deep voice of my 24-year old son who has lived in an apartment on the other side of town for the past six years. What a delightful surprise! We see him at least once a week at a local restaurant for family dinner, but I couldn’t remember the last time he’d stopped by unannounced in the middle of the day.
He grabbed a Gatorade and sat in the chair across from me in our family room. The next hour or so was filled with laughter, conversations, questions, and a quick meal as we caught up on all the happenings in our lives. He filled me in on his plans, the highs and lows of his week, and how he was feeling about a variety of topics. Shortly after 5, he looked down at watch and slowly rose, announcing that he needed to get to band practice.
I knew from the second that I heard his voice that the blog post would not happen yesterday because my priority is relationship with my son. I have nothing tangible to show for the time that I spent with my son yesterday, but I grew more in my knowledge of him and he grew in his trust for me that I would be available to listen when he wanted to talk. Both of those are priceless commodities in my book. I never want to get so wrapped up in the completion of tasks on a list that I fail to make time for those I love the most.
What would you consider your top priorities? What would make you set aside your to-do list?
Other than my relationship with the Lord there is nothing more important than my family. There are no plans that I could have that I wouldn’t drop in a heartbeat to spend time with them. Like you, even an afternoon chat would have priority.
This post fills my heart. To know you have such a loving and kind relationship with your son is priceless and precious !
If you take the time to listen to your boys now and stay close to them, they’ll hang close to you for the rest of their lives. It also helps to have stocked up on their favorite foods!