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Time {Five Minute Friday}

by in Family and Faith

Keys

Five minutes of free write on a given one-word prompt. See more linked posts here.


 

When I took piano lessons as a child, my teacher, one day, presented a small black item to me. The stand popped out and it rested on the top of the piano, looking over my fingers as they tried to make music. The metronome set a beat, and I needed to match it. This device taught me to keep time.

In music, keeping time matters. If the song isn’t played out in correct time, it isn’t played out properly. It may even sound like musical mush.

In my house, I am a metronome, often beating at double-time. I have the rhythm of the day mapped out. I’m ticking off the beats expecting everyone to match, but God in His wisdom, gave me two boys and a husband. One boy is his very own rigid metronome. One boy is largely oblivious to time. My husband has a habit of telling me my beat is ridiculous.

In really good music, the time often changes. It might go from 4/4 timing to 2/4 timing to 6/8 timing. It speeds up and slows. It builds and breaks. It rests and rushes. It moves.

If I am the metronome stuck at a steady, unwavering rhythm, then I am missing the opportunities for a more varied and more beautiful melody. Letting my time be set by my boys will make things harder at times, but it was also always make things better, more beautiful and vivid.

10 Comments

  1. Mandy Baker Johnson January 15, 2016

    What a lovely illustration of time and the need to be flexible with it in order to live life to the full. I loved the way you brought the post together with a metronome. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Jeanne Takenaka January 15, 2016

    Denise, I loved this post! I took piano lessons as a girl too. I kept my metronome until it broke after one of our military moves. Sigh.

    I never thought of myself as the metronome for our family. As the wife and moms, we do set the beat for our families, don’t we? Not just in time, but how we respond to the things that happen, are said and done in a given day. Our children follow our cues. I tend to be a very structured person, but one of my boys? Oh boy, not even close. I’m learning to find the balance. There are times when I need to pull him back onto my beat, but there are times when he should be allowed to be on his own beat, and I can flex with that. Great thoughts here today.

    Thanks for stopping by my place! It’s so nice to “meet” you. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Christina Hubbard January 15, 2016

    Hi, Denise,
    That’s a marvelous analogy, challenging too. I think my life is richer too when I listen to the pace of my kiddos. I chuckled at your husband’s response. My hubs says, “What is wrong?” with a very frightened look. Then I know I’ve gone over the edge. Pacing. Slowing. Living well. And so well-said. Thank you! Your friend in spot #70.

    Reply
    • Denise January 16, 2016

      Thanks for reading, Christina! Yes – pacing! Finding the right pace for the right time. Sometimes it’s my pace, sometimes it’s theirs.

      Reply
  4. Viv January 15, 2016

    beautiful posts as always. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Lisa Sullivan January 16, 2016

    It surprises me that you understand this at such a young age. So many people my age state that they wish they would have taken the time to enjoy their children more. Realizing this ONLY after all the craziness of “life” was over.

    You not only have a gift for writing but also a special instinct and a deeper (wiser) knowledge for the most important values in life. I so enjoy your writing with the spot on analogies that can help parents really understand the importance of your writing.

    Reply
    • Denise January 17, 2016

      Thanks Lisa! I may understand it and recognize it, but I certainly struggle to put it into practice! haha I really appreciate you reading and commenting!!

      Reply

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