Time Enough

If God allows, 2016 will be a busy year.
We have two weddings coming up this summer.
The weddings will be two weeks apart.
I will be both the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom; I couldn’t be more pleased.

My son was engaged two-and-a-half weeks before my daughter.
My daughter’s wedding is two weeks before my son’s.
In a large family, that is always the way.
There is always something to be celebrated and a milestone to be recognized.

God increases the love in our hearts for all the additional people He brings into the family.
Where there was once seven of us, there will soon be nine.
As God sees fit, the family will continue to increase.
I couldn’t be more pleased.

The weddings and all they entail is another story for another time.
It is the finding of the dress that triggered many thoughts and ponderings.
Not the wedding dress since my daughter already found a beautiful one.
Rather, finding my mother of the bride and mother of the groom dress.

The right bridesmaids’ dress was found for the occasion.
My dress needed to be found as well.
My husband did not quite understand.
Can’t you wear the same dress to both weddings, he innocently asked.

I guess my look said it all.
He never asked that question again.
The weddings are two weeks apart! I said as if that explained everything.
Some of the same people will be at both weddings, I continued feeling very vain.

I might as well have been talking Greek.
I’m wearing the same suit to both weddings, he interjected as if that was in any way related.
But you asked me to buy you a different tie for each wedding to match my dress, I explained.
Somehow the connection was still not made; he was wearing something new for each.

I found my mother of the bride dress first.
It fit perfectly; just the right length for my tall frame.
The color is a favorite of mine.
It is hanging on the door of my closet with the plastic wrapping over it.

The mother of the groom dress was another story.
I have returned four dresses for various reasons: color, length, and simply cuter on the hanger.
I do not like to try things on in the store; I would much rather try them on at home.
I finally found the right dress when I wasn’t even looking for it.

When I brought the dress up to the counter, a lovely young girl waited on me.
She had the most beautiful accent.
We talked about my struggle to find just the right dress.
We talked about the two weddings, two weeks apart.

Finally, I told her that her accent was beautiful.
Where are you from? I asked, though I thought I already knew.
India, she answered.
I came here three months ago.

I heard a bit about her journey, coming here with her parents and staying with relatives.
Do you like it here? I asked not expecting the answer I heard.
She hesitated for quite a while.
Both cultures are interesting, she said very diplomatically.

She could see that I was truly interested in what she had to say.
I gave her space to continue.
In India, everyone talks to each other, everyone takes time with each other, everyone cares.
Here, she went on, everyone is rushing around; people do not have time for each other.

No one takes time here, she went on.
People are not that friendly.
She stopped, thinking she had gone too far in her explanation.
Not all of us are like that, I said with a twinkle in my eye.

She smiled back at me, warmly.
No, not everyone, she said and she meant it.
I wish her experience thus far could have been vastly different.
I wish that her first impressions of life here had been far better.

It is so refreshing to be around someone who always has time.
There is time enough to get things done.
Most importantly, there is time enough to listen to people.
Nothing could be more important than making another feel appreciated and understood.

All the things we busy ourselves with are really not that important.
Most of those things could wait.
Jesus always had time.
Jesus was met with distractions as He set out to preach the Good News of the Kingdom.

Those distractions were usually people with needs.
Those needs were met by the Lord Jesus who always had time.
We have forgotten our priorities.
We put the things of secondary importance first and forget people in the process.

God gives us the grace to accomplish all that He wants us to accomplish in a day.
There is time enough.
We are the ones that burden ourselves with a to-do list of our own making.
Oh, to be more like Jesus.

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to Him…I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put My words in His mouth and He will tell them everything I command Him. (Deuteronomy 18:15,18)

The Prophet that God promised to raise up who would be like Moses was His Son, Jesus.
Jesus is Prophet, Priest, and King.
Jesus said only what the Father wanted Him to say.
Jesus did only what the Father wanted Him to do.

Oh, to be more like Jesus.
To have time for people and their needs.
To have time to lay our list aside for the more pressing work of the Kingdom.
To be so close to the Father that our words and actions are His.

If we were more like Jesus, there would be time enough.
God’s priorities would be ours.
The Holy Spirit would lead us to those who need an encouraging word.
Our culture would be a Kingdom culture that puts the Lord first, others second, ourselves third.

I want to leave the aroma of Christ wherever I go.
I want others to see the difference that His saving grace has meant to my life.
I want others to long for the Kingdom culture that I represent.
I want to represent Him well.

I will have a lot of thoughts when I finally wear that dress.
The dress will be a reminder of the importance of living out the Gospel before others.
The dress will be a reminder of the Kingdom that I represent.
And there will be time enough.