Just Checkin' In

I know, I mentioned about the new year being a new slate or a new pad of paper we have not written on yet. Well people, you have, and we are almost a week into the year. Most of us have filled the first few pages with important things. Set goals. Accomplished a few things. But for the rest of us, up until today, there had been little written on that pad. Well almost. There is some doodling. You know what that is about. We do it when we are on the phone talking to someone and not really listening. HA! Caught you. You sit on the phone with a pen in hand from doing something else and before you know it you have circles and flowers and . . .
Let me assure you, that’s all right. It is. Nothing wrong with doing nothing every so often. Sometimes we even earn it. After a long day, we kick the feet up and just sit there tired but not ready for bed. It’s a down time if only for a few minutes. Just before the kids and the dog come running around the corner to discover you sitting there, head back, feet up and eyes closed. After they jump all over you and lick your face, kids and dog in that order, you are back to doing and planning and accomplishing.
But wasn’t it wonderful for just a moment? I have discovered over time that these are not only important but they are the best moments of all. Not that we fall asleep but that we have opportunity to relax and take time to have a chat with God. In the last few days these moments have taken on real meaning. At church on Sunday a lady told me of her search for a quiet time and how she found it early in the morning. While everyone else is just stirring, she takes time to get out of bed and go down to her favourite chair and just say good morning to God.
In an email, I read about the wonderful things we can accomplish in our days as we seek to try and create a wonderful year this year that we will look back on with pride. The last year we look back on possessed strides forward amongst more then a few blocks of time that were empty and seemed to be time that just disappeared. And scattered in the midst were moments with God. The article went on to take about taking ten minutes daily with God in the middle of the day when things settle somewhat from the hectic pace of modern life. Time similar to what we had when we had that phone call. We put other things on hold.
I remember back a number of years ago when every day, my dad would call me up just to say hello. They weren’t long conversations. Just time to say hi and that I was thinking of you and thought I would “just check in.” And they developed into just that. Over the years, one of us would call the other and say those words, “Just checkin’ in.”
I miss those calls today. But I won’t miss the ones I have with God my father.
“Hi God, just checking in.”
Something to think about
Rob