Wonderful Wizard of Oz and other random thoughts

Tonight we took the kids to The Wizard of Oz at SUU.  This was the first time we've taken them to a real live play.  They actually both did really great and enjoyed it immensely.  I was surprised by my reaction however.  Let me say, I really did like it.  Most of the characters were GREAT.  The singing was wonderful, the dancing was upbeat...it was a lot of fun.  I found myself however thinking...my heck this is LONG!  It struck me that our world is changing and with it so are things like this.  I almost wished I was sitting at home in my living room, so if I wanted to lay down on my couch I could, or fall asleep and watch it later I could.  If I needed to get up for popcorn or run to the bathroom...easy peasy!  

Even as adults I think our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter.  We are so "on demand" and used to being able to control everything that a treat like this (the play) almost feels like a chore.  My cousin wrote a post a while back on sitting and actually savoring every bite of your food.  My thought was...no way!  First of all I don't have time for that, but even if I did...I don't think I would have the attention span.  I remember when I first had Kelley.  I was nursing her and so had to actually sit down and feed her for 30 minutes at a time, or whatever it was.  Before I gave birth I had been working full time at DCFS and part time waitressing.  Before that I was working four different jobs in Cedar.  Before that I was a crazy busy full time student, part time employee/volunteer/etc.  It was SO hard for me to sit down and do "nothing".  I found myself just gritting my teeth because I was so anxious to get up and do something.  I still struggle with this.  With the kids I sometimes have the hardest time just sitting down to relax and play at their pace.  The house is a mess or I have the budget to do or laundry or whatever.  I think my favorite example is lately I can't even just sit and watch a movie.  We got the internet on our laptop in the living room now, so when I'm sitting and "relaxing" I'm also usually checking my email, bank account or at least playing "Ticket to Ride" online.

Or MAYBE it's all just me and you all don't struggle with this too...very well could be...

I think the Lord meant for us to slow down a little.  That is why he gave us the Sabbath.  But I have to admit, I am a Sunday cleaner.  And I don't just do the dishes either.  I'm usually doing 5 loads of laundry and deep cleaning the bathrooms and doing 2 days of dishes.  Perhaps like the piano this is something I could change on Sunday.  Perhaps I could try slowing down a bit more, just on that day.  It's been so hard because we jam pack our weekends.  We are so tied to the house most of the day that we just want to get away, but as a result the house is usually total shambles on Sunday morning.  And I can't very well leave it totally that way for Monday morning.  So I clean.  I tried and experiment in college though.  I finally decided I wasn't going to do homework anymore on Sundays because I really needed a day off.  A funny thing happened...I still got everything done and I was able to focus on more important things on Sunday.  I grew a lot spiritually during that time.  So tomorrow the goal is...

"Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday..."