Thursday, February 20, 2014

Exchanging Blinders For Smiles

Blinders. You  know. Those things they put on horses eyes. The purpose of placing the blinders over the sides of the horses eyes is so that the horse does not see all of the things going on around it. With their eye's focused only on what is ahead, they will not get spooked by things going on around them. Blinders keep them focused. In some cases, being focused can be a good thing. It can help us get to our location safely- when we focus on our driving. It can help us with dinner or lack of focus may led to a smoking kitchen and burnt dinner! Not that I am speaking from experience here by any means. But today I discovered my blinders were causing me to miss out. Miss out on smiles.

You know how things get sometimes. There are work deadlines, plans to make, house work to be done, meals to be cooked, emails to return, texts to answer, clothes to fold- it is a never ending list! There is always something that needs to be done. And that thing, whatever it maybe, is competing for our time. My blinders had me focused on getting all the things done that I had, or rather felt like had, to be done. The problem is, I was missing out on so much!

 "I will play with you later son, I have to finish this email." "We will play ball tomorrow." "What do you want now? Can you not see I am in the middle of something?" Or the sounds of a little boy, "Mom. Mom! I am talking to you." You see these comments did not start happening all of a sudden. After all, I love my kids! That is why I stay home with my kids everyday. The reality of life with them everyday was making me slowly slip into a slow fade of "taking them for granted". I would make excuses as to why I could not go outside to play because after all I had just went outside with them yesterday. I deserved time for myself. Then slowly it turned into never going outside.

Why? I really do not know. Maybe it was that because I was with them everyday? Have I already forgotten why I wanted to stay at home with them in the first place? Why am I behaving like this?

BLINDERS!!

It happened by accident really. You see I was sitting, outside, in my van, waiting. Waiting for the mail lady to run. She had important papers that I needed for my important agenda. We had been out and about running errands all morning and it was now about lunchtime. I was convinced the mail would come soon, so I opted to not unload everything and go inside the house. Instead we stayed outside, waiting. It was a rather mild day for February, in the upper 60's, so I unbuckled the two oldest boys so they could play outside while we waited. I opened the side doors on the van and plopped down in the bucket seat just behind the driver seat. The just released older boys were chasing each other all over the yard already. "Man, I wish I had their energy!"I told little man- as if he knew what I were talking about. Reaching over to unbuckle the baby from his carseat I felt a slight breeze, which took the baby's breath. So I closed the door on his side and left my sliding door open. I sit back. "She will run shortly, she has to," I thought. That was at 12:30pm.

Fast forward- AN HOUR AND A HALF. 

No mail lady, No mail!! 

But something so much better!!



SMILES!!!

You see, I found a way to be outside, when it was convenient for me. I needed to watch for mail, so I found a way to watch. I had used the excuse, "I can't have the baby in the sun." "The wind takes his breath" as a way for me to be able to stay inside and work on my own agenda. But you know what? Sitting there in the bucket seat of the van, with the door open, holding my baby boy and watching my big boys play was WONDERFUL! The son was not shinning on the baby. The wind was blowing, but we could not feel its effects because we were sheltered by the van and everyone was HAPPY! I was happy! Watching my boys play.....sheer joy!

You know I never did see the mail lady run!! I waited outside that day, in my van, until 2:00 pm. I decided instead of sitting there, to go get some chicken nuggets with my kids. I never seen her drive by my house that day. And I should no because I stayed outside until 4:30 that evening. But not because of the mail- because of the smiles!!! 

"For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" James 4:14

Are you enjoying everyday? Are you giving away smiles and taking some in as well? What was your source of smiles this week? I would love to hear! Share below!!

Written in response to-
 Mama's Losin' It
Writing prompt :5.) Something that made you smile this week.

4 comments:

  1. It sounds like you had a lovely day. I totally get what you're saying here. It is sometimes too easy to just say you'll play outside another day, or you'll pay closer attention tomorrow. I love that you just had time to enjoy the moment and see the smiles. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are exactly right. All work and no play is no fun! :) Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. I definitely know what it's like to have blinders on. It's definitely good to remove those from time to time. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It surely is Mama Kat! I need to do it a lot more often! :)

      Delete

Hey There- It's Been A While!

Well hey there dear! How you been? Hasn't our world been just crazy here lately!? So much has happened since I last posted but I have tr...