It’s that time of year when rest is just over the horizon… but we aren’t there yet.
The stress of the semester from the perspective of a parent and an educator is ramping up a little inside of me. I think this happens every time there is about to be a holiday. Of course, the added uncertainty of a raging pandemic adds a little weight as well.
So this morning, I was feeling a bit of anxiety as I grabbed my stuff and ushered three boys out of the car (Somehow this process is never smooth which isn’t exactly anxiety reducing!).
As I tried to navigate the cars in the parking lot, the boys were laughing hysterically at something behind me. I turned to see one of them carrying his water bottle upside down. That’s it. Nothing spectacular- the water bottle wasn’t even leaking (thank God!). This simple act apparently was so hilarious that the other two had to imitate it right away!
So three crazy boys chuckled all the way to my office and then over to their school about upside down water bottles. “Now it’s in my hand! Oh now it’s in my backpack pocket! Hehehe,” they said as they narrated the movements of the upside down water bottles. One even made up a song: “I’m walking with my upside down water bottle?. It’s just so fun to walk with it upsiiiidddddeeee down…?”
It was all so… silly. However, it did distract me from all my worries for a little bit. It brightened me up inside a little even through the stern look on my face begging them to stop and pay attention to the road.
My prayer for you and for me is that we find some unexpected moments of levity in our day today. A break seems so far off somewhere in the horizon and our bodies and minds are demanding it now. So may God show up for us in tiny, unexpected moments of laughter that will keep us moving forward today.
