A towel, for your rest

Today was my son’s last day of preschool and so, it was my Last Day packing a little towel into his backpack for him. The towel that they use to lay on when it’s rest time. 

And it struck me. Maybe not in the way that you might think, but maybe in the way that you might need to hear.

You know, as I was volunteering in the classroom the other day and I got to be there to witness the kids get out their towels and laythem out across the rug.

Some have really special towels and the towels they were proud of with pretty pictures or soft textures. Some of them showed them off to me. I looked over at my sons towel. It’s  usually just a plain white towel I grab in a flurry, maybe even a little raggedy around the edges. I never really thought of packing a special towel, not too much.  Or if the thought ever did cross my mind, it left as quickly as it came, with a flurry of other commotions and excitement.   

And that’s okay.  Though there is nothing wrong about packing a “best“ towel, and for a  moment I perhaps I should’ve.

Then I realized.

That what I gave him was already enough already.  It was always enough.

It might be a little ragged around the edges.  I might have forgotten a few times.

But The love that I gave him, the care, the time, the attention, in all the little details, even the days I forgot, land he had to borrow a towel from school.

It was always more than enough.

It didn’t have to be fancy.  It just had to be.  And it was.  There.

And do was I.

I witnessed, all of it, that I could.  I did, the very best that I could.  Perhaps we won’t remember all of the running around we did or the sacrifices we made or the hustle, just get that raggedy towel laid out for our kids.  or maybe we will. But maybe we shouldn’t worry about it.  Maybe it just is, just was, just will be enough. Enough for it to be. What it is.  What it was.  What it will be.  

We laid out the table, we laid out the towels and so much of ourselves.   It will be enough because it already is.

While I cringe for a minor second if I think about those threadbare edges of the towel I sent in from time to time, I know my heart is not threadbare.  Or maybe it is just a little.  And that’s okay too.

We have given, parents.  We love, we lay down, we witness.  That, plus telling them, showing them of God’s unending love, is  going to be enough.

When we look back we’ll wish we had more to give. But we did it all, friends. We did everything we could, everything we knew to do, everything we had time to. That, and God’s presence is enough, more than enough. 

If we can raise our kids to remember this, it definitely is. 

You did everything humanly possible as a parent. So you’ll look back at times and when there was enough? If you’re being being really honest with yourself and remember there was everything you had to guess. You laid it out like an offering that threadbare towel and it was more than enough. Why because it didn’t have to be perfect because it was done out of love as a sacrifice I not only for a creator But for the children and he placed in your care. And that is why I will always be enough because you are never alone too We won’t be judged the way we judge one another or maybe even ourselves Will be judged by loving God who knows the difference between an offering. Who knows that a threadbare towel is Sometimes the best you got. Sometimes it’s all you’ve got. It doesn’t matter so much what really matters that you gave

That God anoints our heads with oil, even if mom forgot to brush it. That love never forgot us, even if we think it did. It never does. 

That God, He laid out  a table before us , there in the presence of our enemies.  Sometimes the enemy seems to be time itself.  And the ability to do the things well. But it’s not.   We can rest.  Knowing that right here, is enough.  That our efforts are enough.

I think too, that what looks less than impressive might still be more than enough.  That not everything can be judged by what we see or seem to place value on. That  our imperfections don’t get the final word.  That love wins out more than anything, and can’t be narrowed down or demonstrated in any one thing.  Or maybe one. But that’s a cross and not a towel. Let’s remember that. 

It’s enough because of that cross. That Christ demonstrated His Love for us in this way, that he laid out his life for his friends. Friend, that makes us enough. Not out efforts or our titles But knowing we are loved, and then loving. Knowing that I am who I am,  and I lay it all out before God, and my family. 

It has to be, and always is, enough.

And so I’ll keep going, and keep choosing love.  Keep laying out a blanket, a towel, a table, of love.  It’ll look different in the next stages. And it doesn’t ever have to be fancy.  It just has to be. Me. Giving, in love.

And because of that, it is always going to be enough.

A towel, for both of your rest.