MATTHEW 10:16
"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Okay. By now we've all heard what a SNAKE in the GRASS this novel coronavirus has become.
And we've realized that staying safe is no walk through the BLUEBONNETS ... and social distancing and self-quarantining and religious cleaning regimenes are necessary. And I know you probably know better the CDC Recommendations for staying healthy than I do.
But sometimes, being told of the DANGERS hiding in the FLOWERS ... helps us decide to prioritize our lives a little more ... Assertively.
And sometimes I need a nudge like this ... or a threat like this ... to really assert the most important priorities in my life.
Maybe you do too?
Hopefully you already know about this Family Leave information ... Especially if you have children under the age of 18 who aren't in school right now ... And being a parent, a tele-worker, and a home school teacher is a bit much for your plate too ...
And If you don't know about it, please click this link or Google it now!!:
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. The Department of Labor’s (Department) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers and enforces the new law’s paid leave requirements. These provisions will apply from the effective date through December 31, 2020.
It shouldn't have been a tough decision for me. And it really wasn't.
On Monday, March 30, after family discussions and a few informational Zoom Meetings and Google Gatherings, the decision for our family was clear. I informed my employer, Highland Park United Methodist Church, that I would be taking at least 2 of my 12 available weeks of leave immediately in April ... Starting tomorrow, on Wednesday, April 1st. No April Fools ;-)
It shouldn't have been a tough decision for me. But. It was.
A very tough decision.
Under the best of circumstances, I try to multi-task a bit too much. .
Husband of the best young lady with whom God could have blessed me to raise a Family
Dad for a wonderfully independent Adult Daughter
Therapy Dad for a precocious 12-year-old Son with Autism
Beyond Karate Dad.
ManeGait Horse Therapy Dad.
Reading Therapy through Song Dad.
Choir Booster for his 6th Grade Male Chorus
Manager of Chances Pie & Coffee Shop. A Belong DisABILITY Ministry of HPUMC.
Vocal Coach for Spotlight Musical Theater at HPUMC.
Pastor of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. Chaplain for the Companionship Movement in Dallas.
2nd Bass (and wannabe Tenor) in South Dallas Concert Choir.
Author seeking editing and publishing help for our book, Stacking Crayons: How Kids with Special Needs Teach Us We ALL Count
Uff da!! I think I missed a few important things in that laundry list too. Under the best of circumstances, it's clear. I try to multi-task way too much. Sometimes I wonder if I'm more than a bit proud of managing such a prodigious list. Like I need to be busy and stay busy all the time.
But that's really not very fair. And not very accurate.
It is certainly too long a list right now. As we are negotiating a New Normal for our family. As our son thrives in predictable, familiar routines, but reacts to even the smallest of noisy surprises. As my work now depends upon telephone and video conference calls ... and he hates when I'm making those calls ... almost as much as he hates to hear babies and small children cry. It is too long a list.
And even though much on that list is now on hiatus. The list is too long right now.
Or maybe I should say, the OPPORTUNITY is too GREAT!!
Now perhaps our walk through the park, perhaps our journey through the bluebonnets is a bit more treacherous than yours right now. Or perhaps ours pales in comparison. And you are feeling like the vipers are more than nipping at your heels. They have sunk their vicious fangs muscle deep into your thigh. And you can feel some of the poison already seeping into your circulatory system.
Either way. A lighter load. Or a much heavier load. I'm guessing you feel it too.
Right now. Some kind of change is needed. Some important shift in priorities has to happen. Not only to make these next few weeks liveable.
But even more important.
Some kind of CHANGE is needed. To make these next few weeks MEANINGFUL!!
That's all it means. To PRIORITIZE. How do we make our lives more meaningful. How do we claim that which is most important. And how do we release what is less important.
Some of this needs to be done, just so that we can SURVIVE a moment or two of a Public Health Crisis. Prioritize what's most important.
Even more of this needs to be done so that we can begin to THRIVE, not only in this moment of change and difference. Even more of this needs to be done so we can make THRIVING sustainable when life returns to a more familiar normal. Release that which is less important.
Almost everything I do these days is prioritized in this way:
FIRST FIFTEEN: Does this remind me to spend my FIRST MOMENTS and BEST MOMENTS with God?
SIDE BY SIDE: Does this in some way allow me to spend MORE meaningful TIME with my closest family, especially my wife, my daughter, my son, our parents, our siblings, and our faith community?
COMPANIONSHIP PREPARATION: Does this in some important way PREPARE me to make the TIME I spend with my family and extended family even more productive, and especially meaningful?
CIRCLE OF CARE: Does this help me connect with somebody in our world, in our community, who is a lot like our family ... but doesn't have the same kind of family support we do. If so, is God calling us to connect more in this situation? Especially if I can I work with our family and extended family to reach out to their family?
BUT. I must confess. The bulk of my time, by far, has been spent on Priorities 3 & 4. The bulk of my time has been invested more in my work family than my home family.
If I want the rest of my life to be more meaningful. If I want this day to be more meaningful. Priority #1. And Priority #2. Need to be the top priorities.
Not only in word. But in deed.
Not only in my hopes. But also in my plans.
FIRST FIFTEEN is a sustained, lifelong commitment to give GOD the first fifteen minutes of my day. To read something that reminds me of God's gracious investment in my life and my family. To reflect on some picture, or better yet a view or a vista right in front of me, that leaves me in awe about God's creation. To pause and meditate and breathe and pray. Not the kind of prayer that has lists and requests and is full of my plans and my agendas. But the kind of prayer that allows me to listen. For what God is telling me.
Especially what God is telling me that I might not want to hear. At first.
FIRST FIFTEEN is about reorienting my life. And asking God:
God, what is most important to you in my life?
SIDE BY SIDE is about tending carefully and consistently to the most important relationships God has given me. SIDE BY SIDE is a lot like FIRST FIFTEEN in this important way. Todd, the extravert. Says as little as possible. And, instead, focuses on listening. Listening to what is important to those who are most important. To me.
My companion, what is most important to you?
Sometimes I do this quite well. Still better. Much better. Would be better.
I didn't always do either of these well. In fact. I used to do both of these very poorly. Neither was a stated priority. Let alone a clear goal or a planned aspiration.
Right now. I set aside time intentionally for both. And I use that time well.
But the FIRST FIFTEEN is still has a tendency to be more like the Third Thirteen or the Seventh Seven. I start to connect with God. And then. I get distracted. Or I start patiently. And then I get impatient. And start to rush.
Kind of like I often do with the SIDE BY SIDE relationships in my life. All too often it is more like Rushing SLIGHTLY AHEAD. Or Lagging SLIGHTLY BEHIND. Either I'm not listening enough, and keep trying to sneak my agenda into the conversation. Or I'm not being honest enough about my thoughts and feelings when the door is opened and I am asked.
Walking SIDE BY SIDE seems easy. But it is actually one of the toughest tasks we will ever undertake.
And during this New Normal. I have been given an opportunity.
To walk through the Bluebonnets with Nikhil more often. SIDE BY SIDE. To be intentional about listening to my son. Who may be mostly nonverbal. But has a LOT to say.
And to prepare for those walks by walking through the Bluebonnets with God. And being more intentional and more disciplined in my FIRST FIFTEEN. For the FIRST FIFTEEN is really all about setting our hearts and minds and souls upon God ... so that we know 24x7 that God is available and accessible 24x7.
But it all starts with listening enough to those most important to us. So we can walk together through the Bluebonnets.
So if you could change even one priority in your life during this New Normal. What might that be? Can you write it down. And tape it to your mirror? And pray about it?
We set priorities in case there is a sly snake, or a shrewd serpent or two lying in the weeds. And we set priorities so that we can be prepared. Because being as innocent and guileless as doves. Involves being at peace. With our priorities.
And structuring all of our lives around that which is most important.
The God we serve.
And the people we love most.
May these be and become our most important priorities.
In word. And in deed.
Amen.
