Kyle, one of the members of our church, spoke before the Lord's Supper today about how busy we are in our lives. We are always in a hurry, on the move from one activity to another. We sign our children up for lots of different sports and activities so we are constantly on the move. Our lives are super scheduled and we rush from this week into the next. How true that is. Kyle encouraged us to slow down and think about what Christ did for us on the cross, instead of thinking about what was going to happen next.
This has been a really good, non-hectic weekend with nothing on the agenda. Today, I was thinking about how I spent my weekends as a child verses how my children spend their weekends. I grew up in mid-town, in the heart of Tulsa during the 1970's. I was part of a regular family with a mom and dad, a dog or two and a brother. We were such a happy and normal family. We spent time together, ate meals together everyday, talked about stuff...whatever we had on our minds and hung out playing games or playing outside during the weekends. We had pancakes EVERY Saturday around 10am and usually had biscuits with chipped beef gravy on Sunday mornings. I rode my bike and played on my swing set, played with my Barbies...usually with my best friend Becky. Life was simple and good. I don't ever remember being in a hurry or rushed from place to place. Although, I played softball, soccer, took gymnastics and ballet, was a part of Girl Scouts, and went to piano lessons... mind you, I only did one of these at a time. It sounds pretty awesome writing about it, I must say and it was.
Kristine in the 1970's
So...how is life different for my girls? Well... we aren't routined in our breakfast choices for one thing. I don't cook big breakfast meals and everyone just chooses for themselves. Unlike the description of rushing from activity to activity this morning at church, I have stuck with my parent's way of thinking that one activity is enough. Katherine is allowed to play one sport at a time if she desires but that is it. My mom didn't work and I do so that alone makes things more tricky... one activity per child still allows us to have family time each week together and that is important to me. My girls still play outside as often as possible... which Todd and I encourage. We are fortunate that they are not TV junkies and still want to be out and about. When I ponder the differences, two BIG things stick out to me...
Church... We go to church every Sunday. If you know me well or have followed this blog, you know this has not always been the case. We got off track when Emma was born and it took us 3 years to recover. There were many reasons for this but regardless, we are committed to our church and we attend every Sunday and Wednesday. My girls absolutely LOVE church. It is Emma's favorite thing! We almost always dine with our dear friends...The Parrott's following worship each Sunday. That sounds so traditional, doesn't it? I never had that experience as a child because we didn't go to church.
Our Church Home... Broken Arrow Church of Christ
Family Friends... I remember my parents having friends over a few times when I was a child but rarely. I can also count a handful of times that my parents ever went out alone without us. Mom and Dad were best friends... and really each other's only friends. They never went out with individual friends. Even as a child, I vowed I would have friends of my own as an adult. It is not that I don't value my time with Todd because it is very important to me and to our marriage. It is that I value, greatly, my time with friends who meet different needs than Todd can. Likewise, I encourage Todd to spend time with his friends doing stuff I don't so much enjoy. I think these relationships are important. I have also come to realize how meaningful it is to have another family to spend time with. Many of our weekends are spent with our closest family friends...David and Kelly and their boys. I never really knew what this kind of friendship could bring to our lives. I know, however, that when my girls can choose to stay home or go with the Parrott's, they almost always choose the Parrott's (Emma ALWAYS chooses that!). Perhaps it is the kind of relationship that larger families have where everyone gets together for Sunday meals... I don't know because that is not my life. What I do know is that my girls will always remember our weekends like this:
We spent time together. We went to Bible Class and church on Sunday and out to lunch with our friends every week. Mom and Dad both had friends that they cherished and spent time with. Sometimes, Mom and Dad went out to dinner alone or with another couple because it was important for them to have time together. Our times with our family friends were always fun, full of laughter and good times. If there was anything I needed, I knew Mom and Dad would be there... or David and Kelly because they were like our second family.
David and Kelly
We cherish our family friendship and are so thankful they are always there for our entire family.
I wouldn't trade my childhood... it was awesome but if I had the opportunity, I would add CHURCH and Family Friends because I can't imagine my adult life without either of them.
