First Day of School

This week Hannah and David went back to school. David began his junior year and Hannah is a sixth grader at Summit Middle School. Hannah, especially, was excited to transition to middle school. David, well I think the photos speak for themselves.




It wasn't a dress this year, which must say something all by itself. But she did shower before school, dried her hair and even borrowed my flat iron to control those beautiful waves. Why is it everyone believes that stick-straight hair is beautiful until they have kids of their own? That book in her hand was a prop of her own doing - like she was going to read on the bus the first day of school? Right!



This poor young man is simply miserable. He can't even get out the door without his mother nagging him to at least take a pen in his pocket and one notebook on the off chance a teacher actually passes out the class syllabus. He firmly believes that there is a law against first-day-of-school homework and that his imbecile mother has had her head stuck in the sand. I honestly don't know how I became so hideously out of touch with reality.



But at least he doesn't have to ride the bus anymore.

Fruit Flies and Fantasy Football

It's been awhile. I've sorely been neglecting this blog (and numerous other responsibilities) because pretty much all of my time and energy have been focused on this:


http://www.mercywestlakes.org/default.cfm

Well, I haven't actually been directly involved in the Mercy West Lakes opening, but almost everyone else on our executive team has been, so a couple of us needed to stay behind at the Mother Ship, as it is affectionately referred to, and keep it from sinking. And that has meant many long days. Very long.

Mercy West Lakes officially opens at 12:01 a.m. on September 8. If you haven't seen it yet, it is a beautiful facility. In some ways, it looks more like an upscale hotel than a hospital. I'm sure the differences will be apparent to anyone who needs its services. It will be a wonderful resource to the western suburbs and beyond. Provided you don't have any complications that make you higher risk than the average person, you will be able to have your baby here, or your knee replaced, or even your heart tested. But if you have anything complicated or unusual, you'll still need to come downtown to the main hospital.

So what does that have to do with Fruit Flies or Fantasy Football? Truthfully, not much. But last weekend I took some much needed time to sit on my deck with family and friends and enjoy a beautiful evening. It was a perfect evening but for two minor annoyances: a swarm (is that the correct plural?) of fruit flies had taken residence in my kitchen, and it was fantasy football draft night. Both became a distraction. Which resulted in a life lesson that I'm not sure anyone else absorbed, but here it is...

I have a tendency to allow temporary distractions to overshadow an otherwise nearly perfect life. We all have those pesky distractions - flat tires, sprained ankles, spilled milk, dog poop on the floor, an unkind word from a spouse, rolling eyeballs from a teenaged child, money worries, health worries. Fruit flies and fantasy football and the opening of a new hospital. Good or bad, they steal our time and energy. They invade our sense of rightness. They mess up our plans. They remind us - remind me - that I am not in control of much of anything. Except how I respond to things - that I am in control of.

I don't always respond to fruit flies or fantasy football the way I would like. Sometimes I compound the distraction by expending more energy than the distraction warrants. All too often I miss the perfection of the evening because I'm too busy swatting and worrying and plotting how to change the situation - all to no avail. Jesus reminded Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed" (Luke 10:41-42). The "one thing" Jesus was talking about was himself. He exhorted Martha, and me, and maybe even you, to pull up a chair, put your feet up, and relax in the blessings God give us every single day. Here's to celebrating the Every Day.