Reprimanded by a Puritan

It was wonderful getting out from between flannel sheets this morning at the time I would normally be getting together coat, purse, watch, keys, and cell phone to run out to the car! I will set an alarm most days but today, I just had to sleep in. If nothing else, just because I could.

My son is working a few weeks full time at the bookstore near campus. I am taking him to work a couple of days to be able to run some errands, otherwise he will be able to drive himself most of the time. After dropping him off this morning, I drove by a group of women who were probably on their way to the airport via the University's airport van. They all looked so nice and put together with suits and heels, hair professionally "done", expensive leather briefcases in hand...sigh. My first thought was, "that used to be me".

Okay, let's admit it. It's been twenty years since I left corporate life but there are days when the glitz and glamor at least temporarily seem better than the knowledge of spending all day catching up on laundry. It was nice to be respected for my brains and ability, business lunches at fancy restaurants, the excitement of a project completed on time and hearing "well done".

I turned to go around the block, hoping there was an easy parking space at Einstein's. With the students out of town for Christmas Break (at least I CALL IT Christmas Break), there were plenty of spaces. I treated myself to a small cup of their Holiday Blend and a pumpkin bagel (why do the young people who work there always look at me that way when I say I only want it sliced and nothing on it...don't they know there are people who aren't willing to pay over double for a tablespoon of cream cheese to be added?).

Anyway, I digress from my true point I may eventually get to, that of my reading material. I was running out of the house and the only book nearby to quickly grab was the Jeremiah Burroughs book I'm using as a devotional, The Rare Jewel of Christian Commitment. It is so wonderful and so deep, in a good way, that I went back to read Chapter One over again. I shouldn't have done that. Not after coveting my former lifestyle. Ouch! God does have a sense of humor, you know. I'm certain it was not a coincidence that the only book on the dining table was that book. Not at my house where there are books everywhere.

I did repent, realizing if I thought about it more than five minutes, I would not want to go back to that lifestyle. I have never regretted leaving the corporation to spend more time with my daughter (and later leaving a job at my former church to homeschool my son). I could always spend more time looking a little more put together, if that's what I really miss. I still have my old attache case, used by my husband for years and then my son (it was very good leather). I could even put a little makeup on before leaving home. But would I really want to be catching a flight and leaving my family behind? No...

So I slowly sipped my small coffee and nibbled at my pumpkin bagel while absorbing the wisdom of a man born four hundred years ago, long before women stood in line for University Airport Vans. I poured a refill into the disposable cup and headed for home to do what women have done for thousands of years...laundry. It may have not been very exciting but it felt good when every piece was folded or hung up. Now that is a very good thing as that had not happened for months.

Picture: Billy Jacobs, allposters.com