Needless to say, it was nothing compared to the paths of destruction our kids create today. I'm a believer in "a place for everything, and everything in its place." I'm a natural-born organizer. None of my kids are though. They subscribe to more of an 'any mostly clear space will do' way of life. And "space" includes floor space.
With a family the size of ours, I always felt I had to pick my battles. Quite frankly, I only had the energy to consistently focus on one or two behavioral matters per kid for a couple weeks at a time and organized living spaces never made it to the front lines of the war. This is why there's a lacrosse ball in my living room.
Now, when it first began appearing there, I would return it to either my son's equipment bag or to his bedroom, but it always found its way back to the living room. And it isn't alone. The kids seem to have a number of possessions that have some sort of built-in homing devices that always return them to parts of the house where they clearly do not belong. There can be no other explanation for it.
This used to drive me nuts but not anymore. I have come to realize that all too soon, they will be grown and gone and so will their stuff. Then I'll clean the living room and nothing will return to it. Nothing....(cue the cricket noise).
I remember as a kid thinking time moved so slow. Do you remember feeling like Christmas would NEVER come? Even if I was busy playing ALL day, it seemed like the day was long. It wasn't until I started college that I thought time was moving, well... double-time. I remember thinking toward the end of my first year how fast it had gone by and feeling a little disappointed that I only had three to go. And they did indeed go by fast.
Twenty-four years since then I have worked for five employers, married once, given birth four times, changed a go-zillion diapers, done four billion pounds of laundry, run six dishwashers that were mine, driven (I think) seven minivans, repeated grades one thru six including the homework four times, wiped lots of runny noses, taken countless temperatures, kissed who knows what kind of germified booboos, typed I don't know how many words, taught a good number of lessons from the Good Book, been fired once, had two miscarriages, lost my parents, worried about money, worried about kids, prayed not enough, never been hungry, only briefly forgotten at times that God is good ALL the time and had one lacrosse ball in my living room.
The 'timely' point I am trying to make is that this lacrosse ball in my living room is a marker of this time in my life. It isn't about that my house is messy because my kids are messy or that an orderly house should somehow measure good parenting skills. It means nothing more than that we have two kids who play lacrosse so....there's a lacrosse ball in my living room. There used to be Tonka trucks and someday in the future there won't be anything, but right now there is this ball.
I've come to appreciate this lacrosse ball and what its presence in the living room stands for. Time moves too fast. I'm so thankful for everyday that I see it in there because that is one more day I have with these kids, in this house, in this time of my life. I want to encourage you to examine your living room to see what phase of life you are in and give glory to God for it. Don't try to clean it up or put it away, I've already proven that is a waste of precious time. Instead, get your Bible out and read what God has done with time. You will be awe-inspired.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live." Ecclesiastes 3:1-12
