I was just thinking about all the back to school hustle and bustle. Frightened kids just starting kindergarten; "know it all" kids starting junior high; and "I have arrived" kids starting high school.
Ahhh, I remember those days with some sadness, some gladness, but all with sweet memories. It's like this great big house and you've been living in one section of the house. You've decorated it with memories, you've made it comfortable with routines, and you've cleaned it with discipline. Then, one day you notice another door and it's been locked up until this moment. When you notice that it's unlocked, you're uncertain about going through it.You're very comfortable in the room you're in, but you've outgrown it, so with some quick breathing of anticipation, you walk through. Umm, it's kind of empty and it's sad that you've had to leave the other room because it was so complete. You can still look into the room you've just left, but you can't go back there.....sooo...time for some housework in the new room.
Kindergarten days full of crayon pictures; huge writings on those pages with three lines for one letter; dress up days for special programs; new songs. Everything is new. New school, new teacher, new schedule, new clothes, new lunch boxes, new backpacks, new friends.
Whew! What a change! After you get over the shock and lonliness, you notice you have time to actually clean house, take a bath, comb your hair! Hmm...this may not be so bad afterall. Your days become routine, building up to the climax when you see your little cherabim running out of the school building, grinning from ear to ear, waving the newest addition to your refrigerator collection of art.
Uh, oh, looks like another door. It has written on it JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. How did I get here so fast? And when did my little angel's favorite words change from "I love you, mommy," to "whatever."(the last being said with an eye roll) New stuff again. New ideas, new (strange) clothes, new activities, new girlfriends?, new eating habits because they're way to cool for lunch boxes now.
Oh, wow. You have car pools to sports games, after school activities, overnighters, controversies (everyday). It's all so exhausting.....but it's all so fun!!!!! I don't know who said that raising teenagers is awful, but they were totally wrong! It's amazing! Those little people that you used to read stories to, now come home with stories for you of who said what to who, and who did what, and who got in trouble(again). It's stories of crushes, of sports victories, and heartaches. Oh, my! I love this room!
But, alas, there's another door....HIGH SCHOOL. Umm, I don't think I'm ready for this one. I really want to just stay where I am, but there's this pre high school kid behind me pushing and shoving as I'm trying to hang on to the door facing. As, I pick myself up off the floor, I see this kid doing high fives, running around the new room like a lunatic. Okay, I can do this. I start by looking at this kid and realizing he doesn't look so much like a kid anymore...more like a younger replica of me or his dad.
Again, this room was amazing! Probably the funnest of all the rooms to decorate. It was all a blur of new accomplishments, new directions, new relationships. It was finished way too fast. I can't make it last any longer, I can't add one more thing. It's done.
I've gone through rooms of college, grad schools, relocation. It's all difficult and it's all good. I'm working on a new room now. It's full of toys, baby beds, bicycles, and story books. Hmm, it kind of looks like the room I started out with, only now, I can sit back, relax, and revel in it.....I really love my new room.... I really love my house.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am therewith, to be content. Phillippians 4:11 KJV
or
Whatever room I'm in, be happy. JV (Joy's version)
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