I was fortunate enough to spend Easter weekend in my hometown with my family this year. It doesn't always work out for us to spend holidays together so it's a treat when it happens that way. My daughter wanted to go to The Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville to celebrate her birthday. Since my hometown is only about an hour away from there, we decided to make a weekend of it. My niece graciously offered to let us invade her home (again), so we left after I got off work on Friday and headed north. When we got there, my niece's husband, Anthony, took Hunter to the drag strip to watch the races. When my niece, Rebecca, got home from work we loaded up Katelyn and her two daughters, Breanna and Lexi, and joined them. We all had fun watching the cars race, even though it wound up being a little colder outside than we would have liked.
The next day, I took Hunter, Katelyn and Breanna to Huntsville. We spent the day at the Space & Rocket Center and had a great time. I hadn't been there since I was in high school but I always loved that place. It appeals to the geek in me, I guess. We must have walked 20 miles while we were there - seeing the exhibits and riding the rides. All 3 kids climbed the rock wall and all 3 kids, much to my surprise, rode the G-Force Accelerator. We topped everything off with a visit to the gift shop, of course, and everyone came home with souvenirs.
While we were driving there and back, I was pointing out places to the kids that I used to go and telling them how at one time I could have made that drive with my eyes closed. We passed by the bridge where I used to go fishing with my dad and uncle. It hit me as I was talking to the kids how beautiful the scenery was on that little stretch of highway. It was a sunny day with big white clouds against a clear blue sky. The mountains in the background and the creeks we passed by made a pretty picture indeed. I had forgotten how spectacular the view can be in that little corner of northeast Alabama and I have to admit it made me a little homesick.
When we got back in town, we loaded up again and headed over to visit one of my brothers. We grilled and watched the kids run around and play. We sat and talked and laughed telling our crazy stories. It truly was a great day.
Today, Easter Sunday, was slow compared to Friday and Saturday. We did the usual "Easter Bunny" morning activities then just kind of took it easy. We visiting another one of my brothers and sat and talked for a while. Then the kids and I packed up our stuff and headed home. It was during the drive home that my thoughts started to wander a bit. Both kids had fallen asleep, so it was just me and the radio for about 3 hours. That's when it hit me. Part of what made my weekend so great was the undivided attention my kids had from me. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that has become a rarity. Between work and school and everything else life throws at us, we have become too busy to just enjoy each other. My obsession with technology doesn't help with that either. I, like so many others, have a "smart phone" that keeps me constantly connected to the world. I have email, texts, Facebook, instant messaging, the list goes on and on. I am always worried that I won't be available if someone needs me, so I tend to go overboard in my quest for being plugged in. Anyone who knows me knows that I always have my phone handy, but this weekend I logged out of things and put the phone down. I didn't have it in front of my face all the time and it was amazing how much I noticed. I joke a lot that I have developed adult ADHD because of my job which requires a good bit of multi-tasking. I can't seem to focus on one thing at a time for very long. But this weekend, I wasn't trying to do 500 things at once for a change. And it was wonderful.
So as I sit here and remember the real reason for celebrating Easter - Jesus's death and resurrection from the grave, the greatest love story ever told - I also celebrate my own resurrection of sorts. I realized that I don't have to be available to everyone all the time. I just have to be available to the people who matter the most. Everyone else can wait and they will understand. If they don't, then I don't need them. Thank you Jesus for loving us enough to make the ultimate sacrifice so that we could have eternal life, and thank you for opening my eyes on this incredibly important weekend and reminding me what truly is important.
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