Thursday, January 20, 2011

Time to talk

Below is a copied post done by bestie.  She is the person I share EVERYTHING with.  We couldn't be more different.  She is sweet, quiet, calm and thoughtful.  I am.....well...... the opposite.  When we get together there are 2 moms and 8 children.  I hope they don't start figuring our they outnumber us 4 to 1.
Why do we love each other?  The Lord knew I needed her.  I don't have family close to where we live and she is my sister.   She also has several gorgeous red-heads who keep us on our toes.  She has listened to me go on about miscarriage, husbands working late, and about nothing at all.   This was posted by her just a few days ago.  April, I love you.  Thanks for challenging me and mostly encouraging me in the Lord.
Hope it encourages you when you get to "just talking" with another mom.

I chatted on the phone awhile with a great mom-friend this morning. It was nearly an hour that we talked, and as I hung up, the familiar twinge of guilt came up to tackle me. "You just wasted an hour on the phone!" it said. So I thought, what DID I accomplish during that time?
Well, we talked about:

Bible study-for moms and for teen daughters. Why is there so little available for girls in training them to love God and His Word, rather than just focusing on the "struggles" that many(not all!) teens face? It's hard to find age-appropriate materials that don't make the GIRL look like the center of the universe, instead of pointing her to a relationship with God who MADE her--and HE IS the answer to all those other "struggles."

Teaching kids to read and the funny things they come up with when they're learning to sound out words.

How we need to always be alert to hear what our children are saying AND alert to the environment and how it's affecting them.

Husbands and their work schedules.

Breast cancer.

Toddler vocabulary.

Doctor's office visits.

Breakfast and grocery shopping/menu planning.

Field trips.

Church.

Sunday school.

Getting together for a meal and a visit.

Speech club.

That's a LOT of ground to cover in under an hour--and I know I don't even remember everything we discussed. To top it all, I was not idle during that time; I recall that I ate breakfast, unloaded the dishwasher, loaded it back, wiped the counters, cleaned out both sinks, washed the dish drainer, and tidied the living area . . . there may have been more.


So, to the guilt that wants to steal my contentment, I say Go Away. I am NOT wasting time! Even if I am "just talking."





~april
Posted by April at 12:13 PM

4 comments:

April D said...

love you bestie-ever! :)

Anonymous said...

sweet!

Rebecca J said...

Hello Allison! I just had to pop over and say hello. I really appreciated your kind comment today and I was so encouraged to read this sweet post! You are blessed to have a dear friend like that. She sounds like a gift from God.

Blessings to you!
Rebecca

Kara said...

I think this is the sweetest, most encouraging post I've seen in a while. I was thinking about it a lot today. Thank you for sharing this! I have the same guilty feeling like I didn't get something more accomplished when I'm "on the phone" but then, you do! You get a heart reset and little things you mindlessly take care of due to habit. I love it!