“Hey, Mom, are we having a birthday dinner for Dad tomorrow?” Derek asked.

“I thought we would wait for this weekend.”

“We have a wedding this weekend.”

“Okay, let’s do it tomorrow.”

I sent a text to Laura because she never answers her phone! Then I called our oldest son.

“Luke, we are going to get pizza for David’s birthday tomorrow. I’m sorry it is such short notice. It snuck up on me.”

“How could it sneak up on you? It’s the same date every year.”

* * * * * * *

“The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves! …the heart of effective personal management…deals with things like building relationships, long-term planning, exercising, preparation – all things we know we need to do but somehow seldom get around to actually doing, because they don’t feel urgent.” “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey

Enter guilt! I decided to make some changes. First, I exercised. It’s not my favorite thing to do. I wrapped David’s gift and spent the evening watching a rerun with him. (I never watch a movie twice.) I’m building a relationship here.

1 John 3:18-21, “My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. (19) This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. (20) It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. (21) And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God.” The Message

(The man on the gift bag is bowling.)

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