The Blessed Day Off

Today is Saturday. It is also a day off.... but it really isn't.

My husband is a busy fellow. This morning he was out of the house before we got up so he could go to the gym before an assignment he had at church mid-morning. When he returned from that assignment he started painting a room in our house. For Mother's Day I wanted a room painted. I didn't necessarily ask for him to do it - I would have been just as happy had he kept the kids entertained so I could do it. But he wanted to. The painting took 4 hours. After which the lawn needed to be mowed. It is now nearing 7:00 pm. We haven't spent a moment together as a family. He has been busy all day doing things that needed to get done and I appreciate that. I just wish there was time to do it all.

Because residents work the type of hours that they do, they typically only have 1 day (if that) each week to take care of the messy business of life. You can't very well mow the lawn at 5:00 in the morning or in the dark. When you own a house that means time dedicated to its maintenance. When we move on to a fellowship, if we get one, I am insisting that we rent a condo or townhouse with exterior maintenance included. Even two hours a week is precious time that I would rather we spend together not worried about what needs to be done.

Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes, we are running behind schedule, but we want to at least eat together. Then the kids are off to bed by 8:00. So much for a day off.