I've heard it before ...

My mom once told me she read people had to hear things seven times to truly remember them. I brought this up when I was with her recently and she said, "No it's more than that, like 77." Neither of us could remember the true scientific fact. Ironic. But, hey, either way, our mushy human brains are so full of stuff that we have to hear something over and over and over and over and over and over and over ... and maybe over again ... in order to absorb it.

Since becoming a mom, my brain has become mushier so God uses these two little people in my life to teach me things. They may be little, but the lessons that come from my days with them are big. They're about things that aren't really things, like patience. And control, or lack thereof. And how judgments are pointless.

You know, life changing things that aren't really things.

One "thing" God has been working on in my life right now is realizing not everyone is a planner who works ahead of deadlines and instead of getting frustrated that not everyone operates like I want to, these people have the ability to remind me that God cares about the details and is so much better at orchestrating them than I could ever be.

Truth is, sometimes working at someone else's pace is refreshing and eliminates the stress that I've been known to generate inside myself wondering if something will get done well and on time. The more present I am, the more I learn the goodness often happens on the journey toward the plan. You know, I keep realizing, events and parties and playdates and vacations and dreams and family nights and holidays and adoptions happen even when people don't have the same perfection-driven timeline I have.

Seriously.

Shocking, I know.

I've "heard" this at least seven times, probably even closer to 77, the last few months. And, you know, my life and heart have been better because of it. I'm not deleting my electronic calendar or anything, but, maybe, just maybe, I should have just listened the first time.
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