September 10, 2014 Someday by Charles R. Swindoll Philippians 4:11-13 SOMEDAY WHEN THE KIDS ARE GROWN, things are going to be a lot different. The garage wont be full of bikes, electric train tracks on plywood, sawhorses surrounded by chunks of two-by-fours, nails, a hammer and saw, unfinished experimental projects, and the rabbit cage. Ill be able to park both cars neatly in just the right places, and never again stumble over skateboards, a pile of papers (saved for the school fund drive), or the bag of rabbit food---now split and spilled. Ugh! SOMEDAY WHEN THE KIDS ARE GROWN, the kitchen will be incredibly neat. The sink will be free of sticky dishes, the garbage disposal wont get choked on rubber bands or paper cups, the refrigerator wont be clogged with nine bottles of milk, and we wont lose the tops to jelly jars, catsup bottles, the peanut butter, the margarine, or the mustard. The water jar wont be put back empty, the ice trays wont be left out overnight, the blender wont stand for six hours coated with the remains of a midnight malt, and the honey will stay inside the container. SOMEDAY WHEN THE KIDS ARE GROWN, my lovely wife will actually have time to get dressed leisurely. A long, hot bath (without three panic interruptions), time to do her nails (even toenails if she pleases!) without answering a dozen questions and reviewing spelling words, having had her hair done that afternoon without trying to squeeze it in between racing a sick dog to the vet and a trip to the orthodontist with a kid in a bad mood because she lost her headgear. SOMEDAY WHEN THE KIDS ARE GROWN, the instrument called a telephone will actually be available. It wont look like its growing from a teenagers ear. It will simply hang there . . . silently and amazingly available! It will be free of lipstick, human saliva, mayonnaise, corn chip crumbs, and toothpicks stuck in those little holes. SOMEDAY WHEN THE KIDS ARE GROWN, Ill be able to see through the car windows. Fingerprints, tongue licks, sneaker footprints, and dog tracks (nobody knows how) will be conspicuous by their absence. The back seat wont be a disaster area, we wont sit on jacks or crayons anymore, the tank will not always be somewhere between empty and fumes, and (glory to God!) I wont have to clean up dog messes another time. SOMEDAY WHEN THE KIDS ARE GROWN, we will return to normal conversations. You know, just plain American talk. Gross wont punctuate every sentence seven times. Yuk! will not be heard. Hurry up, I gotta go! will not accompany the banging of fists on the bathroom door. Its my turn wont call for a referee. And a magazine article will be read in full without interruption, then discussed at length without mom and dad having to hide in the attic to finish the conversation. SOMEDAY WHEN THE KIDS ARE GROWN, we wont run out of toilet tissue. My wife wont lose her keys. We wont forget to shut the refrigerator door. I wont have to dream up new ways of diverting attention from the gumball machine . . . or have to answer Daddy, is it a sin that youre driving forty-seven in a thirty-mile-per-hour zone? . . . or promise to kiss the rabbit goodnight . . . or wait up forever until they get home from dates . . . or have to take a number to get a word in at the supper table . . . or endure the pious pounding of one Keith Green just below the level of acute pain. Yes, someday when the kids are grown, things are going to be a lot different. One by one theyll leave our nest, and the place will begin to resemble order and maybe even a touch of elegance. The clink of china and silver will be heard on occasion. The crackling of the fireplace will echo through the hallway. The phone will be strangely silent. The house will be quiet . . . and calm . . . and always clean . . . and empty . . . and filled with memories . . . and lonely . . . and we wont like that at all. And well spend our time not looking forward to Someday but looking back to Yesterday. And thinking, Maybe we can babysit the grandkids and get some life back in this place for a change! Could it be that the apostle Paul had some of this in mind when he wrote: I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. (Philippians 4:11) Maybe so. But then again, chances are good Paul never had to clean up many dog messes.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:41:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015