525,600 Minutes (Family)

What was the single best moment of 2009 for you? Is it something you need to think about, or did you know before you finished reading the question?

Some years I need to think it over, but this year, I've got a "hands down" winner. March 22, 2009. Trevor asked me how Jesus could come and live in his heart, and we prayed. We had a party as a family, just like they were having in Heaven, all for this one little boy who said he wanted to always be with Jesus.

I was reading the words to that "525,600 Minutes" song from "Rent" this morning--they asked, "How do you measure a year in the life? In daylights, in sunsets, in cups of coffee." Our year was measured in:

* Prayers. Over meals, before school, at bedtime, and at the most random times. Prayers.

* Picnics outside, or inside when weather wasn't great.

* Snuggling on Saturday mornings.

* Parked at the train tracks, hoping a train will come by.

* Date nights with Justin--we love our kids, but it's nice and necessary to have just us sometimes.

* Doing "Smooth Road, Bumpy Road."

* Running through the waves and building sand castles.

* Christmas Eve service with all four of us in worship together (even Aila tried to sing along)!

* Singing "Goodnight, Sweetheart" at bedtime, and Trevor's sweet "Doh-dodey-doh-doh."

* Snuggling by the fire watching movies on rainy days.

* Seeing little eyes light up at the zoo, aquarium, or children's museums.

* Seeing Justin for the first time after his 16-day trip to the Dominican Republic (with very limited phone contact).

* Driving around with the windows down in the summer so we can pretend we have a convertible.

* Going out for ice cream the night before school started.


Other things that have unfolded around us are the births of Caroline and Isaiah, losses our friends have suffered, pregnancies that are answers to prayer, a cancer diagnosis for my Aunt Karen (dad's sister) and then hearing that she is cancer-free after surgery, Justin's grandmother turning 90, visits from family, and forming friendships.

I will say that this is the first year when I've struggled a bit to be really intentional regarding making the absolute most of my time with my family. I've taken on more tutoring which has been a blessing, but I can feel the change. It's gotten more difficult for me to just sit down on the floor and play, because our days are so broken up Monday-Thursday that I feel like I'm always gearing up for the next thing--dropping Trevor off, picking him up, getting Aila down for a nap, dropping the kids off, running to go tutor, etc. Life feels a bit fragmented, and for the first time I'm finding it harder to be still. Because when I have a moment to be still, I am already mentally gearing up for the next thing rather than soaking up the moment. That never used to be a problem for me--this is really the first year that I am having to assess whether or not I'm living in THIS moment or constantly getting ready for the NEXT ONE--I really haven't had a lot of trouble being still in the past. You know how some people thrive on a busy life? That is NOT ME. Never has been. I don't thrive on having stuff to do--on the contrary, if there's too much of it, it paralyzes me. Sure, I want well-rounded kids, but I don't want to be that super-busy soccer mom. I don't want to put them in 3 different activities each and then spend our lives driving around town. I really, truly feel the conviction that the value will be found in simplicity. God has spent years impressing this upon my heart, so I'm trusting He will unfold what that looks like for our family, and how I can practically protect our time together.

So when I think about how I spent these past 525,600 minutes, I am spurred on to be still in the next year. To really be all here. No, my life this year wasn't really measured in sunsets or cups of coffee, but in belly laughs, speaking truth over my family, and saying together, "We are a family, and we love each other."