Making the trains run on time (or not)

In our family, I am the timekeeper.  I make the trains run on time — or at least I try to.  Of the four individuals in our family, I am the one who (a) knows how to read a clock AND (b) pays attention to what time it is.

I know how long it takes everyone to get ready in the morning, and I know when we’re running behind.  That’s when I start issuing reminders — “We need to hurry!  Let’s go!” until everyone (eventually) hustles out the door.

But here’s the rub:  despite my nagging, our family is almost always late, everywhere we go.

Being late drives me crazy.  It must have driven my parents crazy too — I was never once tardy for school.  In the work world, I am usually early for meetings.  But it’s a different story getting out the door with a 4-year-old and a 6-month-old in tow.

I’m getting out of bed earlier than ever before.  Most days, I wake up before everyone else so I can catch a quick shower or exercise routine.  Start time is not the issue.  Unfortunately, I’m not sure what the problem is.

This morning, we decided to take our girls to a holiday church service.  At breakfast I declared:  “Our family is chronically late.  Today we are going to church — and we are NOT going to be late!”  For some extra oomph, I added, “God doesn’t want us showing up late to church!  We have to leave here by 10:00am sharp!”

Everyone agreed, and soon G, N and I were ready in record time.  Baby Sis still had to eat, but with 20 minutes to go before we had to head out, I was confident that we’d have plenty of time.

I was feeling rather proud of myself when I sat down to feed Baby Sis in her room.  The room was warm, toasty and quiet, and I settled into our feeding session with a book.  No need to look at the clock — I’d just keep checking my watch.

I was so relaxed and calm that I didn’t notice that the second hand had stopped moving at approximately 9:50am.  Absent-mindedly, I kept checking my watch and thinking to myself, wow, this is nice.  Time seems to be moving so slowly!

Baby Sis had been finished for a while when I finally went downstairs.  I noticed that the clock said 10:10am.  Panicked, I realized that my watch had stopped.  Now I was the one making us late!!

It must have been God’s way of telling me to relax and not worry so much.  By the way — even though we left at 10:10, we still made it to the service — a few minutes early.  Maybe we just need a little divine intervention!!

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