How Love is Spelled T-I-M-E

 

 

Spelling Love on a “To Do” List

He picked his way across strewn toys, vacuum cleaner hoses, and cords. Then he reached up his arms to me.

“I wan’ you to hol’ me,” he begged.

I sighed.  Rocking a child was not on my “list”.

Besides, I was too frazzled, too busy for interruptions.

 

T-i-m-e Not a Choice

Yet I knew I’d miss an opportunity to fill an emotional tank that could be running dry.

I didn’t have the time, but I didn’t have a choice.

Oh sure, I could have said, “Not now.  I’m too busy.”

Yet I have discovered that a few moments now can save hours later.

A few moments now can keep an emotional tank from running completely dry.

Because I’ve been heard to say, “Twenty years from now, which will matter most . . . ?”,  I knew I had to do what mattered most.

Stopping my cleaning, I bent down and picked up my little guy. Carrying him to the rocking chair, I eased down and settled back for a rocking session.

We rocked back and forth. He didn’t say anything. Neither did I.

But then, we didn’t need to.

I thought about the work waiting for me, made a mental list of what else I needed to accomplish, and put that list on the back burner to simmer.

C-o-z-y Spells T-i-m-e

Then, pulling his blanket close around us, I hummed as we cuddled and rocked, rocked and cuddled.

“Are you all cozy now?”  I asked.

“Ummmm,” was his response.

“What does ‘cozy’ mean?” I prompted, waiting to see if he remembered our homespun definition.

Chin protruding from his blanket, he grinned.  “Snug . . .  and warm . . .  and yots of yove,” he answered.

I grinned back and squeezed extra hard, making sure he felt that there was more than just a little love for him.

Love, to my little one, is spelled T-I-M-E.

 

Spelling T-i-m-e Right When it Matters

In a few minutes, he was gone. I watched him, playing with his toys and games.

I watched him in his small world of stresses — sharing toys and taking turns and getting along.

I kept rocking a little longer, allowing the coziness to creep into my soul, feeling the fullness in my heart tank.

I felt a little stronger, much more rested, and a whole lot fuller, because I took the time to fill his emotional tank.

I rediscovered an old truth: it really is more blessed to give than to receive. [Acts 20:35]

I am especially blessed when I am filling the love tanks of my kids, because no one else can do it like their mom.

 

This article was first published in a community newsmagazine in 2000. Later it was printed in my book Southside Glimmers.