THE GIFT OF TIME

 Our daughter's clock collection!

Whenever a friend of mine went to visit her daughter she'd always come back exhausted! She would tell us her long list of duties ~ how many jars of peaches, pickles, pumpkins she canned, how many pies she baked, how many hundreds of cookies were packed away in the freezer, and so on and so on! It can be fun to work together and stock up for the winter, but this sounded like the drudgery of an assembly line! I never asked, but I always sensed that just once my friend would have loved to just be able to visit and not work so hard. She was not the youngest any more either! But this was their mother-daughter dynamic and I just listened, offering no advice.

It gave me food for thought. Even though our daughters didn't want or need me to do all that stuff - they are very capable wives, mothers and career women, in their own right - somehow the daily stuff all got done anyway! Our main focus, however, during my visits was always more on enjoying the depth of our relationship with each other, having fun together especially with the children and making new memories! What a blessing our two daughters as well as our new daughter-in-law are!! I love you all!

She didn’t want or need me,
To dust, do laundry, mop the floor,
Or do her annual cleaning,
Help plant the vegetables and flowers.

She didn’t want or need my help
To cook, and bake, do canning,
Or stock the freezer, fill the shelves,
Slave o’er the stove for countless hours.

She wanted me just to relax,
Put up my feet, enjoy my tea.
We’d sit and talk, we’d laugh and cry,
And have our heart-to-heart again.

She wanted just to be together.
We’d watch the children romp and play,
We’d sing and laugh, we’d tease and giggle,
Each day was different, none the same.

She wanted me to share the fun
Of bathing twins so full of life.
To marvel how God made each one
How they are precious in His sight.

She wanted me to make new memories
As with the oldest one I’d play.
We’d make a tent; we’d play with Legos,
We’d wrestle and pretend to fight.

We gazed at photos, old and new,
Reliving and remembering.
We dreamed of future things to come,
And knew God shaped our destiny.

The gift of time spent in the sharing
Was treasured more than any help.
She didn’t need what I could do,
She wanted me for me.

Karin Ristau ©

Thinking of you all! Too busy with work
and doctors' appointments to come up with a
fresh post - that's why the re-post!
Both of us are booked for surgeries
at the beginning of December.
Tests then will show what we're dealing with.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Blessings!