What I Need Most

8:00 am, I wake up to a text from a lifeguard confused about the time her shift begins.
I NEED to make the next schedule more clear.

Ford crawls in our bed. "When are you going to make me breakfast?"
I NEED to teach him how to work the toaster.

Barely able to stand in my closet, I sort through piles of skirts and shorts that no longer fit.
I NEED to clean this out, buy new clothes... lose ten pounds.

Daddy's present lies unwrapped on the counter.
I NEED to mail that... three days ago.

On a short drive, the needs pile on.
I NEED to
go to the grocery store,
get a haircut,
plant some stuff,
organize a gazillion pictures,
teach Ford to swim,
sign Alice up for dance camp,
repaint the retina-burning kitchen,
call my mother.

I NEED to plan a vacation.

My head and shoulders stoop. My eyelids droop.
Stepping out of the car, I grab my purse. It overflows with receipts, Chick-Fil-A napkins, a credit card bill, hairbows, a  rock (?), bouncy balls, and 43 pens.

I NEED to get my life together.

I take three, slow, heavy steps... and then... I lift my face to the open doors of Christus Victor Lutheran Church. I see warm smiles, familiar faces and the towering cross that marks this holy place.
Walking taller, eyes brighter, heart lighter, I quickly realize
THIS is what I NEED most of all.

"And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:20