Constant Motion

Usually on Sunday nights, Craig and I compare calendars and make a list of the things that need to occur during the week for us, for the house, for the kids, for our callings, for his job, etc.  I like knowing what to expect and having a plan.

But lately, every Sunday night I look at that calendar and think, "Oh good, this is a pretty easy week," and then the following Saturday night, I look back at the week and think, "Holy cow!  It's a good thing I didn't know last Sunday that all this was coming, or I wouldn't have gotten out of bed."

It's pretty much constant motion around here.  The days are filled with unexpected and unscheduled things that take up our days before I even have a chance to put them on the calendar or document them on Instagram.  They're good things and necessary things, and things that bless our lives, but they're mostly things I don't have a chance to plan for.  I'm getting better at being spontaneous, though.  I'm more relaxed about the condition of my house.  I don't feel obligated to stay up and wait for missionaries to come home or to entertain house guests 24 hours a day.  And I almost always have a pantry and outside fridge stocked with water bottles and plenty of extra food.  (Thank you, Stephanie, for that little life tip.)

Last Monday morning, my neighbor texted at 6:00am, "I'm available for lunch or shopping or just hanging out at either of our houses any day this week.  Call me and let me know when you're free."  She NEVER initiates social things.  And she almost never wants to leave her house.  Craig said, "She's missing you.  You should find some time to visit her."  So I found a space between some doctor appts for the kids and I let her take me to Olive Garden for lunch.  It turned into a great afternoon.   

A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from a random 801 number saying, "I'll be in Alabama...tomorrow!"  I let that one wait for a couple of hours before I finally gave in and texted back, "Great!...um, I'm sorry I don't recognize this number.  Who is this??"  It was one of the sister missionaries who had finished her mission and gone home, but was coming back to Birmingham for a funeral.  That weekend, I squeezed in a pick up from the airport, and two houseguests from Saturday to Tuesday.   Craig had the great idea to let them borrow our van, so fortunately, I didn't have to spend those three days driving them all over the mission.

In a typical week, people need rides, visits, and dinners.  There's usually a missionary dinner in there, a trip to the temple, and a random youth activity at our house.  On Sundays, we either pick up someone for church or have early morning meetings and lessons to plan.  After church, we either make visits to old people or have someone coming over for dinner.  The kids have their school things and work things...and there's that cute missionary whose emails I can always count on sometime between 4:30am - 11:30am on Monday mornings.  

Between the scheduled things, and the unexpected things, we are in constant motion around here.  

But somehow, at the end of every week, I look back and I'm amazed at all the things we've done.  And I'm even more amazed that even though there's a steady stream of activity, it never feels frantic.  And I'm not stressed out, crying, or curled up in a heap in some closet.  

This week, even after All State band auditions (including daily after school rehearsals for Megan and McKay which meant a whole lot of juggling schedules and driving back and forth to the HS for me,) two different auditions for two different kids at two different high schools at the SAME time...one of which was almost 3 HOURS away...
Even after an impromptu going away dinner party for the Bishop and his wife last night...  
Even after two different kids had doctor's appointments that took an extraordinarily LONG time...
Even after VTs who like to chat for 2 or 3 hours...
Even after a dishwasher installation on Thursday, a microwave that decided to die on Monday, and two overflowing trash cans that someone forgot to take to the curb last Friday...

I still managed to go to lunch and a movie with a friend, sit down at the table for dinner with my family 5 out of 7 nights, watch the latest episode of This is Us, do some family history, have a handful of conversations with my husband, take a few pictures, complete the MONSTER level of Wordbrain, and do a little pre-Spring cleaning.  

The point is that even though my days are filled to capacity, somehow there's still enough time to do the things that make me feel productive, fulfilled and happy.  Remarkably, the constant motion has not turned into constant chaos.  Somehow, with the increase of all that is required and requested of us, Heavenly Father has also managed to increase our capacity to manage it all.  Divine compensation.  And for that, I am extremely grateful.

'The promise to you and me in the last days is not that the power of God will be poured out on us to do whatever we think is best, but to do what is God’s will. And the promise is that after seeking him and serving his children with unwearyingness, we will come to know his will. The promise is not just that I will have the power to do what’s on my list of tasks, but that I will know what to put there. On those occasions when I have known what should be there, I’ve found myself glancing at it as a source of joy, not of anxiety." - Henry B Eyring