{"id":3161,"date":"2020-04-16T11:59:02","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T18:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/coloringoutsidethelines\/?p=3161"},"modified":"2020-04-16T11:59:02","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T18:59:02","slug":"the-gift-of-time-even-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/coloringoutsidethelines\/2020\/04\/the-gift-of-time-even-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of Time, Even Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I don\u2019t know about you, but as this new normal becomes more and more real by the day, my emotions are all over the place.\u00a0I fluctuate between being my best, most fully alive self and completely losing my mind, not wanting this new normal to be the new normal, like, at all.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Me, tired and exhausted at the end of the day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I miss the life that existed a mere five weeks ago, even if I doubt whether this five-weeks ago life will ever return.<\/p>\n

And perhaps like you, when I\u2019m in a good space, I embrace and lean into and relish in that which is right in front of me.<\/p>\n

I lay on my back outside in the sun, tiny boy bodies piled on top of me, all of us giggling because this spontaneous dog pile is just the best thing ever. I read Harry Potter<\/a> out loud until my throat feels raw, delighting in the power of story with my seven-year old son. I hop on my red seat bike and ride up and down the hill with my boys, over and over again, \u201cbecause Mama, did you feel the wind on your face? Did you, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n

I did, I did.<\/p>\n

I think about the words of my friend, fellow author Krista Gilbert, who writes in\u00a0Reclaiming Home<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cTime can exist in the absence of love, but love cannot exist in the absence of time. The minutes we offer another are a gift of immeasurable value, because we are offering something we will never get back\u009d\u201d (18).<\/p>\n

The beauty of this current time is that we only have is each other. Some of us live by ourselves and find that this season invites us to choose connection with friends and family over Zoom, Marco Polo or FaceTime. Some of us, like myself, share a space with family members or roommates; we too are invited to take a deep-dive into relationship with the people right in front of us, this extra time for connection of immeasurable value, at least if we let it.<\/p>\n

After all, when we offer one another our time, we offer a gift we will never get back.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if we feel like we\u2019re at the end of our rope and don\u2019t know how we can give ourselves away anymore.<\/p>\n

Even if we yearn for human touch, for the embrace of another human being, because the loneliness overwhelms us.<\/p>\n

Even if we don\u2019t know where our next paycheck is coming from; even when we don\u2019t know if we can handle losing another friend or family member to the virus (that is now the leading cause of death<\/a> in the U.S.); even if we wonder if this time will prove detrimental for our children in the long run.<\/p>\n

The even-if\u2019s are long, but the invitation to connect is long too.<\/p>\n

But first, permission granted to take care of yourself so you can take care of others. If, in order to give others time, you first need to have a day of sitting in your jam jams and letting yourself feel mad and sad, then permission granted. If you need to put on (yet another) movie for the little ones in your house, in order to give yourself a couple minutes to breathe, then permission granted. And\u00a0if you simply need to let go of the expectations for output and production (or what I like to call \u201cThe Apparent Need to Write the Next Best American Novel\u201d), then permission granted.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re able to give others your time, consider implementing some of Krista\u2019s ideas, particularly when it comes to bedtime ideas for younger kids: Read a chapter book out loud. Form a back-scratch train. Sing a song or create make-believe stories together. Brush one another\u2019s hair. Give a foot rub. Stargaze or wish upon a star. Pray (52).<\/p>\n

Because, as always, when we find ourselves living in a both-and world (which feels more true now than ever before), we take each day, each hour, each moment as they come.<\/p>\n

We listen to our bodies. We lean into God.\u00a0And eventually, we remember and we lean into this gift of time.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We put one foot in front of one another and we keep going.<\/p>\n

After all, sometimes it\u2019s the only thing we can do.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

So, what say you? How has this season of staying home and sheltering in place, particularly when it comes to the gift of time, been a gift to you?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

*Post contains Amazon Affiliate links.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know about you, but as this new normal becomes more and more real by the day, my emotions are all over the place.\u00a0I fluctuate between being my best, most fully alive self and completely losing my mind, not wanting this new normal to be the new normal, like, at all. I miss the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3607,"featured_media":3166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[919,913,916],"class_list":["post-3161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-harry-potter","tag-krista-gilbert","tag-reclaiming-home"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Gift of Time, Even Right Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I don't know about you, but as this new normal becomes more and more real by the day, my emotions are all over the place.\u00a0I fluctuate between being my\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/coloringoutsidethelines\/2020\/04\/the-gift-of-time-even-right-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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