What really matters?

   My little champs and I were discussing how important it was to keep one's room clean today. Christian believes that it's really helpful to be organized when you're trying to find Lego parts. Ariana retorts, "Well, if I couldn't find the parts I wanted, I'd find something else and do something even cooler!" (Her cleaning philosophy is reflected in the explosion of baby dolls and tea party dishes covering the entire floor of her play area.)

   They don't really agree on, well, much of anything (except hating bed times). Most of our daily household chatter is debating who should get to play with the plastic sword first, whether Cinderella or Cars is a better movie, and how overrated bathing is. Those are the EASY topics. Then they starting asking the tricky stuff. They want to know where babies come from, why the sun is so bright, why apple cores mold when you put them under your bed for a week, and how the world came into existence.

   In listening to a scientist debate "old earth vs new earth" theories recently, I was thinking back to some heated discussions that my mom and I had about the topic a year or so ago. At the time, it seemed really important, and we were both a little heated. Fast-forward to the time after she got her diagnosis of terminal cancer though, and our conversations weren't even remotely about things like creation debates or theological differences. In those precious few months, it didn't matter. It wasn't important. What WAS important were people and relationships. It's crazy how the things that Really Matter surface when time is limited. It suddenly didn't matter at all that we disagreed on how old the earth is.

   Reflecting on how drastically my conversations with Mom changed in the months before she died has made me question my conversational content in all other relationships too. We all have limited time in some way or another. We have family and friends who only visit occasionally. We have chores, homework, and jobs that leave little time for our kids and spouses. We see each other for ten minutes after church before we have to head off to nap. What do we talk about? HOW do we talk? Sometimes the content is just an excuse for contact. Love is what matters.