Life's Little Intrusions

A few months ago I got an email from my father stating he wanted to make a solo trip to our house to burn up some vacation time he had. He also added that he would like to take the time to build something special for Isis and did we have any ideas of what she might like?

For me, the answer was instant. What could we build for our gross motor child who doesn't have time for tedious arts and crafts but will run full tilt for hours? How can we tire her out and eat up her endless energy without expiring our own energy first? What can we build that will let her climb, swing, bounce, hide, run, jump, and tumble all at the same time? A swing set.

A few days later Pop-Pop sent us a few blueprints to check out and pick the most suitable one. He explained that he was looking forward to this project and in addition was looking forward to Isis' intrusions.

That statement hit me like a rogue wave that slaps you in the face then pulls you under and fills your bathing suit bottoms with sand.

Intrusion. Synonyms include invasion, without permission, trespassing, disturbing, pestering, meddling.

Why would it be that in an attempt to build a structure in a determined number of days, that he would welcome any kind of interruption that might slow down progress? Aren't we all creatures that would prefer to work efficiently and get the work done in order to move on to more pleasant affairs? Could it be possible that an intrusion could actually be pleasant? Or even a blessing?

Well Pop-Pop got his wish and his fill of small Isis intrusions. She would help me collect things like cold drinks and popsicles and trot down our lawn barefoot handing out refreshing snacks for Pop-Pop and Daddy. At one point Pop-Pop was handing Isis small chunks of scrap wood that she was sending down the slide.

And some plywood springboard action...

And some summertime relaxing...

As Isis continued to intrude and delay Pop-Pop's work, I watched how much fun they were having. I began to think of intrusions that pop up in my everyday life. Phone calls. Children. Spills. Chores. Errands. Children. Diapers. Visitors. Favors. Children. And I began to wonder if perhaps I should stop looking at these intrusions as such, and begin to find the blessings in them. I mean, there is humor in a poopy diaper gone wrong. There is sometimes somebody worth talking to on the other end of the ringing phone. There is good conversation in driving your neighbor around town. And no, these things usually don't allow me to get done the things on my daily agenda, but the truth is my daily agenda usually doesn't include an item entitled unexpected blessings and therefore my daily agenda sucks. So as you go about trying so hard to do all those things that must be done timely, but really don't matter all that much, allow yourself to be intruded upon, and you will be pleasantly surprised.