Saturdays

Many Saturdays, if we don't already have specific plans, I feel so torn on how to use our time.  There is always so much to be done.  Cleaning chores, house projects, errands, piles waiting to be organized...the list could go on and on and on.  But then I also want family time to just play and read books and take out board games and bake treats and just be together.  And THEN, I also crave rest time, too.  A nap, a novel, some tea, a movie.  I often feel conflicted on how to best use our empty time (which is a rare thing) when there are so many different directions we could go with it.

This morning, friends, I feel quite content exactly where we are at this sweet Saturday morning.  Zach just got back last night from a six day trip to Washington, D.C., which he does every several months.  As most of you know (or have read), I feel complete once again with him home.  The week went quickly and smoothly, but it is admittedly NOT my favorite thing when he travels.  I love doing life together.  I much prefer it that way.  So this morning, with him home and with the smell of bacon lingering from a yummy breakfast he cooked for us, we bundled up our four kiddos for a trip to the beautiful snow.  It is a winter wonderland this morning, with fresh, thick blankets of gorgeous, white snow everywhere.  And, finally, the temperatures are warm enough to venture outside!  I went outside to watch them sled and to snap some snowy pictures and to eat some snow myself.  

And when I came inside, and looked around at the books strewn across the floor and the baby dolls spilled out of the basket, when I see the piles of hats and gloves and the wet, snowy boots dripping on the rug, the unmade beds and the crumbs on the floor under the table from breakfast, I smile big and think that this is exactly how I want this Saturday to be.  The chores will get done.  The books will get put back in their place, the blankets will get folded, the rug will dry, the dishes will get done, and showers will eventually be taken.  But right now, to stop and play in the snow and slide down the hill and laugh with Ella at how she can SIT in the snow and marvel over Sophia's sweet voice and how excited she is to have Daddy home from, "D.C.!" - that is the perfect way to spend a Saturday.  The projects can wait.  The piles can sit.  But the children?  I long to soak them up as long as possible.  To hug and snuggle and laugh and just be.

The boys are off to the sledding hill with Daddy, and I am off to throw a casserole together to put in the oven later for dinner.  We have an afternoon birthday party for a friend from church, and a certain three year old is asking for me to paint her nails.

So here's to the BEST kind of Saturday.  Here's to being present in the moment, whatever that moment is.  Here's to choosing relationships over chores.  To choosing "present over perfect," as Shauna Niequist often says.  

Enjoy today to the fullest, friends!

Happy Saturday!