When we
moved to Ohio many years ago, we landed on a beautifully tree-laden
piece of property out in the rural countryside. North of the city of
Hamilton and east of the college town of Oxford, we were content to
be situated pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Before the kids
arrived we spent our time and our money in both of the nearby cities.
But once our boys were born and I was no longer working, our
activities seemed to be centered around the latter location. From
their births in the local hospital, to visits to doctor offices
there, and then to the library, and eventually attending swimming
lessons, soccer games and martial arts classes...we were in town as
much as the students who lived and studied there, it seemed. But when
our sons became school-age themselves they attended a small school
with no bus service in Hamilton, and the daily ferrying them back and
forth to class gradually pulled us away from the little town we once
spent so much time in. By the time they were grown and gone I had
been working for some time at a grocery store on the west end of
Hamilton, and Oxford offered nothing more to me than a convenient
Starbucks stop on the way to the state park on the outskirts of town.
All that
changed when I broke my elbow. At first, I confess, it was a matter
of pride. Unable to fix my hair or put on my make-up, I simply didn't
want to be seen by people who were familiar with my more put-together
self. Then the convenience factor entered in; I simply knew too many
people in Hamilton after scanning their groceries for ten years, and
visits to my old store with all the necessary greetings and
explanations for my absence, while enjoyable, simply took up too much
of the day. I took to visiting the Kroger in Oxford where I could
shop incognito and quickly. My doctor's office was in Oxford, and
soon I started going to physical therapy multiple times per week
there as well. I started stopping in at the local McDonald's for free
coffee on Mondays, returned my library books to the building itself
instead of dropping them in a bin outside my workplace, got my car
washed in the local drive-thru, and even found the Oxford branch of
my credit union that I knew existed but had never taken the time to
find. I discovered a wonderful new breakfast spot to kill time in
between appointments. With time on my hands I haven't had to hurry
through town but have looked around me with new appreciation at the
beautiful college buildings, the lovely landscaping and the abundance
of trees. I have simply enjoyed driving the brick-paved streets again
and rediscovering the lovely place I spent so much time in during
another phase of my life.
Breaking
my elbow has afforded me a chance to do the same with other areas of
my life, as well. I've reacquainted myself with joys that were put
aside when a forty-hour work week replaced my unscheduled duties as a
stay-at-home mom. Once again home-bound for a time, it's been
wonderful to spend time with pleasures put aside when time pressures
were constantly calling my name. Perhaps the most significant of
these has simply been to let my mind dwell in the presence of God.
While there really has been no change in my personal devotional
times, which have simply gone on as before, my mind has been freed up
from attention to other duties, and I've delighted in the increased
awareness of God's nearness in all aspects of my life and simply
spending time in thought and prayer and conversation with Him, a joy
that an increasingly busy lifestyle gradually pulled me away from.
While
checking out at the grocery store in Oxford the other day, I was
suddenly mugged with a hug from behind by a dear friend whom I hadn't
seen in ages. When our kids were little and we attended church
together we had once been very close, but life situations and
distance had reduced our chances to get together on a regular basis.
Now she works in Oxford and dashes to the store on her lunch break,
where we happened to run into each other. As we laughed and talked at
lightning speed, the illustration was not lost on me; my elbow
“break” has caused me to rediscover the joy of several old
“friends”. I'm determined not to lose the joy of their
companionship ever again.
“ A friend loves at
all times...”
(Proverbs 17:17 NIV)
