Compromise

I decided to sleep in this morning, after a particularly late night. I like to think I am doing myself a favor, dozing during my quiet time. But it never fails, I always pay for the compromise later. Unfortunately, so does everyone else.

I have been a little bit on edge all day - working diligently to get my grocery shopping done, and to get my house spotless in preparation for the week ahead. Really, couldn't I have planned a little bit better than that? As I vacuumed up lint and scrubbed toilets this afternoon (for what seemed like an eternity), I vowed to never leave my housework for Sunday night again.

Usually, I will work to polish things at the end of the week, not the beginning. Fridays are my cleaning days. But for the past two Fridays, more important things have come up. Relationship kinds of things. Last week Mark was on vacation, so I decided to save the scrubbing for later. And this week, an invitation to join my Dad for lunch took precedence. Our lounge around the Guitar Center afterwards really beat those dust bunnies.

As I think back on my day, I know where I went wrong. No, I didn't end up in jail, and there wasn't any blood on my hands to speak of. But I still went from one chore to the next, a little bit on the cranky side. About mid afternoon, when my chores seemed insurmountable, I took a deep breath, and prayed that God would sustain me. I thought (more than once) about leaving the mess to go and curl up in my favorite chair. But my "can do" attitude kept me from stopping long enough.

I have been looking forward to this moment all day. My kids are finally in bed, Mark is out playing cards . . . and I'll be making a running jump for that chair.

I'd like to write more specifically about the kind of compromises I made today. It would be great for me to give you the definition, and every translation of the word compromise - but see that would be one more compromise I just couldn't take.

God is sitting in that chair. He's been waiting patiently for me all day - wanting to refresh me with His Word. I think I'll pour myself a tall class of water, kick my shoes off and stay a while.

I can't wait to find out what I've missed.