Everybody’s Working for the Weekend

In August I was desperate for school to start again. The constant moans of “I’m bored,” the fluid bedtimes eking later and later, the lack of rhythm from one day to the next, all made me crave the wonderful things about the school year. Come structure! Come activity! Come predictability! Twenty days into school and I am already desperately looking forward to summer. Two field hockey teams, one soccer team, choir practice, homework, the morning fire drill to get to school. We haven’t even gotten to the jobs and the two-year old. As I let out a series of noticeable sighs while preparing 6 different types of breakfast, 11-year old Annie asked what was wrong. “Just living for the weekend,” I said without making eye contact. “Dad, it’s only Wednesday, you may want to try living for today.”

Annie’s not the first person to challenge me to live in the present. I feel like I’m inundated by calls to mindfulness, slowing down, embracing today. And yet with Thanksgiving displays already in Target and a work schedule booking six to eight months out, how can I not always be focused on what’s next? As I thought about the tension between living for today versus tomorrow, I realized what’s most important is not for when you live, but for whom. How might my attitude change if I began my daily tasks with a reminder of who they were for as opposed to what they require of me? How might my impatience for the present or my anxiety for the future change if I made sure God was at the center of both? How might my life look differently if I lived for Sunday versus living for the weekend? Prayers for your today and tomorrow.