Trish Lawson's Reflections

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” 

That line made famous by Matthew Broderick as the crafty Ferris Bueller of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; an iconic 80’s movie classic and it is one of many 80’s movies that I can still watch at the drop of a hat! That quote from the movie could not be more fitting for today. I feel like I went to bed rounding out the Advent season and waking up to Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday… talk about a whirlwind!

Life is so fast and fleeting, I for one am always looking forward to the next project, what my busy week will be and how I will get it all done. Some days I have it all together and other days I just “fake it till I make it!” I think that the fact I was sidelined for SO long with all the reconstruction surgeries on my foot to the amputation to learning to walk again, that life (for me) was moving at a snail’s pace. Life was still moving all around me; and I was sitting back just watching it all happen. For me, that was the toughest and yet one of the biggest lessons in my life. I was the PTO mom, room mom for the kids’ parties, the hostess of super cool themed birthday parties that was until I was just the mom doing everything she could to heal and get back to it all. Sure, I did what I could bedside but for me it never felt like enough. By the time I was back on two feet, it was fall of 2021 where we were in the midst of COVID and e-learning and slowly coming back to post quarantine’s new normal. 

I think back to what I felt I missed during those bed-bound years; and I realized that I didn’t miss as much as I thought. I just went about my life in a different way. I was still as present as ever just in a different physical capacity. I was the PTO mom doing all the background work, I was still volunteering my time with remote Children’s Moments and mid-week recorded stories for FPCV; and I was still helping the kids with their homework even if it was “homework in bed!” Life was still moving fast as ever but because I wasn’t, I got a different and more appreciative view of all things around me.

Now don’t get me wrong, old habits die hard…really hard! I have noticed that I have fallen back into some of my overstuffed days (which I am grateful for); however, I am more aware and have set some personal boundaries that respect my time and my family’s time and that had been and continues to be a work in progress.

This past week, we entered yet again into the season where we prepare for Easter. On Wednesday, we took part in the Ash Wednesday worship where we are reminded that we are dust and dust we will return. We have opportunities to participate on this years’ journey to Easter Sunday. Devotionals can be found in the Narthex to follow throughout the season, Wednesday mornings (10:00 a.m. in room 101) the Faithful Friends Bible Study group has just begun Pause: Spending Lent with the Psalms, and all are welcome to join, Sunday mornings (9:00 a.m. in the Friendship Room), the Adult faith formation classes are diving deeper into the Gospel of Matthew: Discipleship in a Divided Age, and for our younger learners (in rooms 141 and 144), we are teaching the Faces of Easter through the Godly Play curriculum.

This is a time to stop and look around, so we don’t miss anything.

Much love,

Trish