One Challenge, A BIGGY!

My mother collected books, magazines, and recipes among other things, like watches and remotes. (I'll save the story of the remotes for another time.)  Small piles of magazines lay ready for perusing on hassocks and side tables.  Books neatly lines several book cases, mostly unread.  "When I retire," my mother said more than a dozen times, "I'll have plenty of time to read."

Soon after my mother retired, her days were occupied with doctors in white coats leading an entourage of medical students at her bedside; a study for the medical textbook. My mother fought for every breath; learning late in her life that she carried the genetic condition Alpha 1-Antitrypsin Deficiency Disorder. Sadly, it was too late to read, cook or dream.

As I pinned another recipe to my Food and Drink board on Pinterest, I came to the realization that I will never live long enough to try all these recipes or read all the books that I have collected on my Kindle or the volumes that line my shelf.  However little by little, day by day, moment to moment I can choose what I do with the time that God has allotted me.  We all think that we have plenty of time to get healthy, read that book, learn a language or check off dreams accomplished on "The Bucket List." I am a great procrastinator.

My challenge is to live intentionally and not put anything off like I have all kinds of time. It seems like a "no brainer", so why do I have such a hard time with this one?

Stormy Day 101

Everyone is neck deep in snow.  Feeling controlled by the white stuff; my calendar shifts and moans under its’ obtrusive weight.   The fierce weather does not stop rolling through day after day.

Today I spend in the kitchen concocting comforts: legumes, sweet potato and roasted vegetables. Bread is in the crock on the rise, sitting on the hearth next to the wood stove.  Creating sustenance distracts from the flurry outside. There is a pile up once again.   An  “inside job” does it; bringing peace and contentment to an otherwise stormy day.