11.13.2008

Listen to Ren...

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says - and Kevin Bacon later agreed - that there is a time for all things. A time to be born, to die, to plant, to uproot, to kill, to heal, to tear down, to build up, to weep, to laugh, to mourn and to dance. The message of the passage is not a dismissive ‘stuff happens’, but rather profound ‘stuff happens at certain times, and times change, and other stuff happens’. For crying out loud, I sound like I’m writing The Message.

I’ve been big on the rhythm of life - the idea that things happen in patterns and if you can be patient with the pattern of it, you can sustain life a long time. Fight the rhythm and you’re never happy. Succumb to the rhythm and you find the dance.

That said, I think I’m beginning to find the rhythm again, after having been knocked silly with the schedule of twins + adjusting to having a family of six children (two different things, I’m learning). Adding twins is like having a baby x 2. Oddly enough, that’s the easier adjustment. It takes longer to feed, to diaper, to play....but you know that in a few years, that’s passed and they’re fairly self sustaining. Having 2 babies fades away. Having six kids? Not so much. In four years, when the twins are off playing in the back yard, I'll still have six kids. At least. :)

One of the changes I had to make was in abandoning my beloved 6am in the prayer room. For five years, I kept that post, rarely missing a day. The 4pm has replaced the 6am for the most part, and it would have been easier to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. Early mornings are now invested in making sure the tribe is up and moving the right direction before I leave Kelsey to hold the fort. I find myself in the prayer room at a strange time, with strange people, less jacked on caffeine and a little more tired than I used to be....

So I’m adjusting. Looking for a rhythm...and it’s all good.

To quote Ren McCormack, “I thought this was a party. LET'S DANCE! “

2 comments:

Craig Dinsmore said...

To near to my heart that you just blogged this...Been thinking about you not there at the 6:00 and realized I would have to make a similar leap when we land our next kid....I will dearly miss the 6am.

Esther Irwin said...

It's not hard to adjust to driving on the other side of the road. The confusion comes from - a year or 2 down the line - having to go back to the original way of driving. Probably works the same with the 4pm and the 6am. It's never quite the same.