My Saturday was NOT going according to my carefully laid-out plans. (And I’m a “planning” kind of girl, as you know if you’ve been following me for awhile.) 🙂

I was hoping to get some housework done, organize all the paperwork for my upcoming tax appointment, then head into town with my son, Kyle, to pick up daycare supplies and a ping-pong paddle from Walmart. (He’s attending a state competition next week, and he really needs a new one. Our others are, well, kind of well-loved.)

And all this needed to be accomplished before a young adults’ church fellowship Saturday night.

No worries. I’m an expert at getting things done.

Except that I didn’t get it all done. I won’t bore you with the details of my tax paperwork, but let’s just say it took A LOT longer than I figured to add up all my daycare expenses. (You would not believe how much those kids can eat!)

I barely finished in time for the church meeting. So Kyle and I changed our plans. He would pick me up after the meeting, we’d make the 20-minute drive to Walmart, buy the stuff we needed, and be back home in time to get to bed at a half-way decent hour.

But of course the meeting ran until almost 10:00pm. (I’m not complaining; it was an amazing time of sharing and testimony that pretty much blessed our socks off!)

So when Kyle arrived to pick me up, I told him we’d have to cancel our “date” to Walmart. Figuring in the time change (of course, the next day was daylight savings), we’d get to bed around 1:00am. Not cool on a Saturday night when you have church the next morning. And when you are pushing 40 and need all the sleep you can get.

He looked at me and said something I will always remember.

“Come on, Mum. Let’s go! We can always sleep, but this is a night we will never forget.”

Well, when your 16-year-old son says something like that to you, there’s only one thing to do.

Get in the car and go to Walmart.

And you know what?

He was absolutely right.

I’ll never forget hanging out with him in the toy department of Walmart, picking out new balls for the daycare. He decided to show off his juggling skills. Turns out he’s a pretty good juggler, with small balls. And these were large. But again, no worries. We eventually got them all back into the cart.

And I’ll never forget arriving in the cereal aisle, only to discover the multi-grain cereal that I need to meet daycare nutritional guidelines was sold out. Kyle found another package of the cereal boxes on the top shelf, opened it up, and pulled out what we needed. Then he proceeded to use the rest of the boxes to stock the empty shelf.

“There’s no workers around; I may as well do this for them.” 🙂

But most of all, most of all, I’ll never forget how we talked all the way to town and all the way back on the winding Ozark roads, just my son and me. Talking about big things and little things and everything in between.

Life is busy. Life is hectic.

And if we’re not careful, we miss seizing the moments that matter the most. The moments that matter for eternity.

Jesus is our perfect example of seizing the moments with the ones who needed Him, the ones who needed His love.

As He rested beside a well, He took the time to share the water of life with a woman who was desperately thirsty.

When little children were brought to Him, He took the time to hold them in His arms and bless them.

As He walked the dusty paths of Israel, He took the time to speak the words His disciples needed to hear, teaching them the truths they would need to survive in a world hostile to the Gospel.

Even in death, Jesus took the time to pass on the care of His mother to His disciple.

His whole life here on the earth was made up moment upon moment of really seeing those around Him, speaking to them, and meeting their needs.

May we follow His example and seize the moments God brings into our lives today.

For you just never know when a late-night trip to Walmart might be something you remember forever.