Thankful Tuesday: When ‘love makes sense of time’

“I find here a mysterious sense of time. I am told about patience and perseverance, about waiting quietly, about living totally in the moment. Yet I am also told about the need to run. Sometimes I feel as though I am being asked to be one of the disciples, leaving everything and rushing forward to follow Christ. Sometimes I feel as though I am being asked to be Mary at the foot of Cross, standing and waiting. But again I know that I have to hold both; I have to run and I have also to wait. I also know St Benedict would tell me that ultimately it is only love that makes sense of time.”

-Esther de Waal, Living With Contradiction: An Introduction to Benedictine Spirituality (36)

• I’m thankful for the hope of these words. As I pursue the possibility of Enough, I am in a constant paradox of living in the midst of a demanding world of technology and a quiet, contemplative reality that Christ is my only true fulfillment. How do I hold both of those at once? I love this: “It is only love that makes sense of time.” I’m sure I’ll write more about that soon, but for now, I’m thankful for the words.
• For the way sickness stops the wild crazy of daily demands. This past weekend, Brooksie was a coughing, fevery, sweet thing. That meant that August and Chris got to share the ultimate daddy/son day and Brooksie and I got to rest and play quietly. Yes, it meant that I missed church and I missed the Super Bowl party. But, my Sunday was absolutely restorative.
• I’m thankful I’m still following through on my attempts at organizing my life. It feels good to cross things off a list instead of fretting about their existence in my brain.
• My boy’s budding love for photography

• For the coming of Lent and the challenge of what that season of this year might ask of my family.
• For a Walgreens and a bank and coffee shop within a five-minute walk. I love the city.
• For friends over Saturday night and a husband who always crushes the cream-sauce pasta. (I mean that figuratively, of course. “Crushing the pasta” would make no sense literally, right?)
• For my discovery of the Mrs. Meyers Clean Day candle. That lavender hand soap is way too expensive to keep buying. But the candle in my office smells like heaven and makes me a better writer. I’m sure!
• For hug wrestling, the new sport my boys invented while jumping on my bed. (Yes, I let them do that. No judgment!)
•  For sore throats that come from kissing sick toddlers on the lips. I mean, seriously, those kisses are totally worth the coming illness, right?
• For hot and sour soup delivered to my house when my throat hurts
• For August’s new passion for cured meats and Brooksie’s new use of the term “guy” to refer to inanimate objects: “Dat guy! Dat guy!” when he’s pointing at the toy he wants.

It’s Thankful Tuesday. What about you?