To Balance as Jesus Did

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Two of our grandchildren and their mama and daddy came over for supper last night. The little one wasn’t out of the high chair before he was asking, “Little . . . . to-o-o-o-ys,” which means, “Little (that’s my grandma name as you longtime readers know and you short-time readers may not know yet), let’s go upstairs to the toy room.” I use the word room loosely — walk-in closet is a better description. After my last bite of supper, we two and his still-little-but-bigger-than-he-is sister headed up the stairs. Notty (that’s Ray) and Mama and Daddy followed soon after.

This house has had so many transformations over its hundred-plus years that it has several strange spots. One is beside the staircase. A long, deep shelf-like ledge runs almost the whole length. An array of dolls in the most creative outfits sit here. Our grandson usually stops to say hello to at least one of them. I believe they are his friends and he is being polite and friendly. The other day one of them got a kiss on the forehead.

Big sister likes to stop and sit on the ledge and pretend to be one of the dolls. Last night she had a “button,” which she had me push so that she could amaze me with what she could do.

I love Christmas and I have started decorating. I am not very far along, but there are trees scattered around the house waiting for decorations. Finding the one at the top of the stairs, big sister carried it into the toy room and began to decorate it with puppets. When she left, she told me to leave it just like it was with the pink bunny puppet lying underneath so we could play with it when she comes again.

Because we work at home, we have the great blessing of having a couple of grandchildren who can stop by their Notty and Little’s house most anytime. I want our grandchildren to remember me as their Little who had time to play with them. I want to get the balance right of sometimes having them play at my feet while I peck away at whatever curriculum we are currently writing while also stopping to give them my whole attention.

The struggle I always had as a parent is still with me as a Little. How do I get the balance just right? When families work and learn and teach and play all at the same place, they have to be conscientiously proactive and wise to try to balance things well.

These thoughts remind me of a another story I heard in Bible class on Wednesday. When responding to my question about who had been a mentor in their lives, one lady said that it was her Granny. With a sweet smile, she remembered, “She taught me to knit and crochet and sew.” Then her brow wrinkled and the smile went away as she said, “Mama didn’t have time to teach me anything. She was too busy scratching dirt.” Puzzled, I wondered if this mother spent her time in the garden, before the class member explained that her mother was moving furniture and other stuff she needed to do to ensure that her house was spotless. Eighty-plus years is a lot of time to feel that way.

I think the best place to find what we need for balance is in the life of Jesus, who was always where He needed to be, doing what He needed to do, and who never seemed worried that He wasn’t doing something else, but was quite content with what He was doing right then. Doesn’t that seem wonderful?

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat
and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida,
while He Himself was sending the crowd away.
After bidding them farewell,
He left for the mountain to pray.
Mark 6:45-46

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