The Horrors of Being a Task Oriented Person

I did something horrible last week. My girls were excited, they were going to be spending an entire day and night at a friends house while Daddy and I spent a special day with their brothers.  The boys were excited to go see Cars 2, and we were thrilled to be able to give them some personal time.  Everything was going to be great!

Early in the morning (before their friend was even awake), I dropped the girls off.  They had everything they needed.  I said goodbye, and climbed back in the car to head home and pick up the rest of the family.  Before I pulled out of the driveway I saw my youngest at the door.  I poked my head out and asked if she needed anything.  She walked away from the door, and despite the feeling in my stomach that I should go to her, I pulled out of the driveway and headed home. 

I was so focused on the task of dropping the girls off and picking up my boys that I didn't even realize that I left the girls without giving them hugs, kisses, or even saying I LOVE YOU! 

By the time I got home, I realized what I had done.  The girls were now fifteen minutes away, and we were going to be driving several hours away with the boys.  I ended up spending the day in prayer -- praying that God would keep us safe so I could get back home to my girls to hug, kiss them, and tell them I LOVE YOU!

Yes, I had a wonderful time with my boys, but I can't tell you how thankful I was to get back home safely.  You see, I am very much a task oriented person.  While this does allow me to get a lot of things accomplished in a short amount of time, it destroys one of the most important things in life - Relationships.  Unfortunately, I had to ruin a wonderful day with anxiety all because I was more task focused the relationally focused.  I pray the Lord will help me to remember when I need to set the task aside and focus on the relationship that needs to be built.  We were put here on earth for a relationship with God.  This itself should be enough to remind me to focus on God and people and not on tasks.

I don't think my girls really even noticed, but next time I hope I will stop and remember to express my love.

Just a side:  The girls did enjoy the hugging, tickle fest they received when we got back home!