I want to finish strong. I pray every year round about his time that I will be able to finish out the school year in a strong way and not just me, but that my littles and I would finish strong together. We started this crazy year called kindergarten together and we want to finish together. Finishing well can look like quite a lot of different things, but this week it involved nail polish and baseball.
My time is precious in these last few weeks of school because I fly out to Mercy Ships training literally the same day school gets out. Before that I have to move houses, pack everything I own, put most of my stuff in storage, decide what I can bring with me to Africa for the year, pack my classroom, and prepare this week for Open House, Spring Sing, and Grandparents Day at school. I’ve had the weight of so many details on my mind recently and in response to that, God gave me two lovely gifts of time well spent in the last two days. One was going over to a kindergartner’s house for tea and nail painting and the other was attending a little league game for a team that has three of my kindergartners on it. Yes, I probably should be packing and planning, but this week, among all the crazy, I chose to sit down and let a sweet six-year-old meticulously layer many coats of polish (in many different colors) as well as glitter and jewels on each of my fingernails and hear her exclaim at the finished product, “Oh! These are the most beautiful nails I have ever painted!” This week among all the constantly growing lists of things to do I stood behind home plate with the Yankees logo painted on my cheek in liquid eye-liner (shhh…don’t tell my Daddy! I washed the logo off IMMEDIATELY following the game, I promise!), homemade sign in hand with the name of each of my littles names who are on the team, and with my telephoto lens to get pictures of the adorableness that is little league baseball.
This past weekend I heard a sermon on Mary and Martha and in a funny way, that’s what this week reminds me of. While Martha was distracted by the details of things to be done, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and took in His words. When confronted by Martha about Mary not helping her, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Indeed! In these last few weeks of school and of life here in CA (at least for a while), I tend to get worried and upset about many things…finishing raising support, getting everything packed, setting everything up for Open House…but few things are needed – or indeed only one…Jesus. Making sure my kids know that Jesus loves them and that I love them.
So, finishing strong this week looks like letting a sweet, little girl spread on one more coat of glitter and painting a Yankees logo on my cheek even though my kiddos know that I hate the professional Yankees. I feel like I made a “Mary choice.” I got to “choose what was better.” Yes, there are boxes to pack, Grandparents Day cards to finish, support to be raised, and that’s all important and necessary, but when compared to the nails needing to be painted, tea to be drunk, and precious little ballplayers to watch…I just feel like I made the better choice today. Let’s finish strong together, keeping in mind that the “better choice” might not be what seems the most urgent (and let’s hope that your “better choice” doesn’t involve a Yankees logo on your face)! 😉
