Quiet Spaces

These are the things I've heard this week...

"I have rehearsal until 6:30 and then my concert starts at 7:00, so can you just bring my dress and my bass to the school with you when you get me?  Oh, and I might need some dinner..."

"We wrote the wrong amount on the check for my letter jacket.  Can you get online and make the remaining payment?...it's due today."

"Can you pick up Megan for me?  I have to be at work earlier than I thought."

"I can't take the cookies with me to RS because I'm going there straight from work.  They'll be sitting in the car for 2 hours!"

"Can you come to the school and take pictures of our choir rehearsal from 4:00-6:00 today?  I need more pictures for the slideshow."  
"I brought the wrong flashdrive to school.  There are no pictures on this one!!"
"Can you help me download a song off of iTunes for the choir slideshow?"
"Do you know how to put music with pictures and make a slideshow out of it?"

This morning, as I was driving two kids to school and receiving a text from another one that she had left her textbooks at home and could I please bring them because they need to be turned in today, I felt a little bit like this...

It's only Wednesday and already I feel like we've crammed a week's worth of stuff into the past two days.  This is the time of the school year that always seems to sneak up on me.  Things need to be signed and returned, dry cleaned and paid for.  Projects need to be completed.  Pictures need to be turned into slideshows.  Field trips and parties need chaperones.  And talents need to be shared with family members and friends.  And all the other things that occur in a normal week still have to happen...like dinner, and Cub Scouts.  Thankfully Craig is home which means an additional driver, a calm demeanor, and a technology expert. 

It is a priority for me to try to keep our regular lives as uncluttered and minimally scheduled as possible, but inevitably this time of the year is filled with chaos, to do lists, and a lot of rushing around.  Today it is making my head spin.

There is too much to do to have the luxury of being quiet for very long, but I made myself carve out a tiny little quiet space today anyway.  And here's what I heard...

"Therefore continue your journey and let your heart rejoice; for behold, and lo, I am with you even unto the end."  D&C 100:12

Sometimes I think that means He's with us until the end of our mortal journey.  Today I'm pretty sure it means that He's just with me...in the chaos, managing the requests, keeping me mindful of things like dinner and sleep, and reminding me that the end of this school year will not necessarily be the end of my mortal journey...hopefully.  It was a brief thought, but just enough to get me out of my head and happily back on the journey, which today will mostly be spent in my car getting a few more things checked off of that never-ending May To Do list.   

I'm grateful for tiny little spaces of quiet amid the chaos.  I'm grateful for this stay-at-home mom career that I chose.  I'm grateful for kids who are engaged and involved.  And I'm really grateful that June is just around the corner...