Choosing to Love.

Yesterday was Sunday...and in our household, Sunday's are about faith and family.  It's church service in the morning, followed by lunch, and then if we're lucky, relaxation.  We had an unusually busy Saturday this weekend.  I was supposed to participate in our local Breast Cancer Walk, but woke up feeling utterly exhausted and gross.  After making the executive decision to stay home with my daughter and husband, the guilt set in.  I went so far as to asking God for forgiveness for bailing out on my team.  Forgiveness for what, I still don't know...failing to participate in a community walk isn't a sin, but somehow uttering that tiny prayer made me feel a little less guilty.

G is in the green.  Her new buddy is on the right.

Later on Saturday, we visited some good friends of ours who we've been trying to get together with for months...maybe longer than months.  Actually, the last time we saw each other was when my daughter was a newborn - she'll be two this January.  So yeah, it's been awhile.  They were having a get together at their church - it was on a farm out in the country.  It was beautiful.  Our daughters played until they were completely pooped.  Following the farm, M (my husband) and I, along with our munchkin had dinner plans with Grandmom and Poppie - those are my parents.  So, off we go, for another socializing affair.  It was a great time though.  Nothing goes together better than food and family.  By the time we had finished up dinner, it was close to 8:30 and we had an hour drive back home.  Little G hadn't had her daily nap, and had been fussy earlier that evening.  I was dreading the 50 mile drive home with a tired, whiny baby.  Surprisingly, with a tummy full of homemade macaroni and cheese, G fell asleep in less then 10 minutes.  My husband and I were most thankful for the quiet drive home.

And now, we're up to Sunday morning.  Got up, made waffles and eggs, and I tried to compile a grocery list over breakfast.  It didn't happen.  I mentioned to M about possibly skipping church, but then I knew how much G loves her Sunday school class.  So, in a rush to get out the door on time, I did a quick inventory of the pantry, shoved my ingredients' list for lasagna into my purse, and we were soon on our way.  We pulled into church with 3 minutes to spare.  Found our usual seat, and I got comfortable waiting for the service to start.  Praise and worship began, but I was distracted.  Everything was on my mind, except what should have been.  I was aggravated that I hadn't completed my grocery list.  I wondered what my next blog topic would be - what do people really want to read?  I was annoyed that there is constantly an endless amount of laundry strewn across my bedroom floor.  I was stressed over the thought of trying to stay within our weekly grocery budget.  I kept thinking about wanting to be a homeowner soon, and how scary that reality is - can we afford that right now?  There I was, in that sanctuary, with all these crazy things going through my mind, and all the while going through the motions of praise.  Then the music pastor said something to this effect, "Imagine if we lived out our faith in a way that we truly impacted our immediate social circle.  Think of how different our community would be...how different Florida would be....how different our country would be."  That got my attention.

Christian faith is all about love.  We choose to love - although some might argue with that.  When we are angry with them, we choose to love our spouses, our children, our siblings, our parents, our best friends, even strangers.  Some people are undoubtedly easier to love than others, but showing love to most anyone is a choice.  After hearing the pastor's words, and flipping through pictures taken this weekend, I came across the pic I posted earlier.  I thought back to Saturday, and watching those two little girls, who had never met, interact with one another in such a loving manner.  There is so much we can learn from children...so much about life, about one another, about loving each other.  Looking at the photo reminds me of the more important things in life - not grocery lists, bills, blogs, or mortgage payments - but family, faith and love.