In a Hurry

"Girls, hurry up! We're leaving in 10 minutes!" I holler this upstairs to my girls on a daily basis. I wake them up in plenty of time to get dressed for school and have breakfast. Yet, on many occasions, they aren't ready until just before it's time to go. Then there's a mad dash to put cereal in a bag so they'll have something in their stomachs to last until lunch.

I'm always rushing in the morning, whether it's making lunches that I neglected to make the night before or putting a bag together for the gym or cleaning up a last-minute mess H made.

Then there's instant gratification, the rush of information available at my fingertips. I admit I have an iPhone and I really do love it. Since I'm not often home and near a computer, I have the ability to be reached at any time for any reason (including today when, while at work, K calls me to ask if she can have a cough drop because she's coughing really bad. She wants to know if I brought any cough medicine for her. Let's not forget that I work at the school where she attends and am just downstairs in the kitchen and it's during her lunch time. Not sure why she felt the need to call. It's not like the campus is that big. The kitchen and her classroom are in the same building. It took her longer to walk to the office and tell the school secretary that she needed to call me in the first place). I like knowing things quickly, staying on top of things, current events, sports (especially how my Auburn Tigers are doing and what everyone is saying about them, good and bad), and even little stories about my hometown. All of this is available on one little device.

Even the games on the iPhone are meant to be played quickly. I read an article about video game designers (in a real paper magazine, not online) and how they've had to rethink the video game concept to fit users who play on their iPod-type devices. People want games they can play in 10 minutes, not several hours.

I have a Facebook account and can see what all my "friends" are doing at any given moment. The only thing I don't subscribe to is Twitter and I just can't seem to get on that bandwagon. But you get my point. We get on demand TV and movies, internet just about anywhere and are always available to talk, text, email, etc.

Yet two things have happened in the last two weeks that have forced me to step back and say, "What's the hurry?" I have two friends who are dealing with ill parents. These people are my age and their parents are the same age as my parents. This isn't just the flu or a cold, we're talking major illnesses and surgeries and life-changing choices here.

Then there's this sign I saw for several weeks as I took the kids to school and back home again. It read, "Thanksgiving wasn't meant to be shut up in one day." I don't usually pay attention to those kinds of signs, in fact I rather loathe them as they always seem to be catchy-type, on the surface sayings. Nothing that really makes me think.

This one was different. I really thought about that and they're right: Thanksgiving wasn't meant to be shut up in one day. We are to be thankful all the time. I am to be thankful all the time. Scripture even tells us to pray with thanksgiving when we make our requests (Philippians 4:6-7). And what follows our requests made with thanksgiving? The peace that surpasses all understanding. Who wouldn't want that? Who wouldn't want a peace to calm all that hurrying we do?

So as not to speed past Thanksgiving and straight on into Christmas, I am going to list 10 things every day for which I am thankful (yes, Mod Girl, I took this idea from you). I'll do this through the end of the year. I encourage you to do the same.

1. My Lord and Savior and His death on the cross
2. My husband
3. My children
4. My church family
5. My school family, including those I work with
6. Small town living (although it seems way too small at times)
7. My job
8. My husband's job that allows him to be home with us
9. My home
10. My parents and in-laws who are always willing to help where they can