I Miss My Time With You....

It had been a long day.  Once again, I was at a local pharmacy attempting to get a kid's prescription filled for a foster parent, all the while annoyed with myself for offering to help them out.....because it's technically not part of my job...and because I was missing my family and ready to go home.  My day had consisted of meeting up with countless people who had burdens and tragedies and endless pain in their life....most who thought it was all my fault.  They were eager to let me know how angry and hurt they were.  Now, at 7:30 at night, sitting at CVS, I thought to myself, "If I have to listen to one more person complain about how miserable they are, I am going to lose it".  That's when she showed up.  You know her.  That lady that always has some type of ailment and is constantly looking for a new victim to tell about it...and today was my lucky day.  I had seen her when she first got there.  Limping up to the counter making sure that she smiled at everyone on her way up there like "Don't you see me, Don't you feel sorry for me?" she motioned for the pharmacist.  Next, she spoke extra loud so everyone within the Ft. Oglethorpe area would know her ailment and feel her pain.  I can't even tell you what her issue was....I lost count after her 4th diagnosis.  The guy next to me was arguing with his wife about how stupid it was that he was going to have to pay the copay for HER meds....he had to pay them out of HIS account the last two times.  I rolled my eyes in annoyance and misery.  Then there was countless entourage of people rolling up to the window wanting their meds filled.  I heard the pharmacist say over and over again, "Sure, we can have those filled in about 30 minutes"....which really annoyed me since I was going into my 2nd "30 minutes".  My misery was so painful by now....I knew I was going to need a bed in a psych unit....or a large bag of peanut M&Ms.  Considering my deductible isn't met yet, I figured the M&M's would be more cost effective.  I was about to get up, when I heard it.  I heard a voice say "Mom".  It sounded just like my oldest baby, Michael.  I answered, "Yes?!"...."Michael?".  Then I heard it again, "Mom".  I got up out of that chair and started scoping the aisles, looking for my son.  He was calling me....and I needed to be wherever he was.  I looked everywhere, but to no avail. Then I saw the voice...he was an attractive teen boy, showing his mom the "As seen on TV" item that apparently was some kind of family joke, but he wasn't my Michael.  I was sad....and a little disappointed....I would have loved to see my boy right then.  I went to sit back in my chair at the pharmacy, that's when I realized something.  When I heard "my son's" voice....everything else just faded away.  My focus was completely on him...not the amount of time I had been there, not the hypochondriac lady....nothing but Michael.  An old Christian contemporary song by Larnelle Harris came to mind.  "I miss my time with you....those moment together...I need to meet with you each day, and it hurts me when you say....your too busy, busy trying to serve me...  It was a hit in the 80's and the concept of the song was that it was written from God's perspective...about how He feels when we don't pray and read His word....and spend those moments just talking and being in fellowship with our Father.  That day, in that pharmacy, I wanted to hear from my son so badly.  I missed him....and to see him at that moment....to have him walk thru those doors and just sit next to me, would have been a sweetness only a parent could understand.  I thought about that father that sat on his porch day after day waiting for his prodigal son to return home.  Then it hit me. That morning I had started with prayer....then the pone rang. Yesterday, I had started reading, then Katie woke up.  Day after day, morning after morning I could remember starting but not finishing....getting quick prayers sent up, or grabbing a verse to think on, if possible, but no real time with Him.  He and I have developed quite a "fast food relationship".  Calling on Him, telling Him what I need, picking it up, and driving away.  No conversation, no meditation.....just quickness out of duty...obligation....need.  I miss my time with Him....and I know He misses me.  So tomorrow, when I wake up, He won't have to be disappointed....He won't have to wonder if it's really me...it will be.  My maker and I....walking together...praising, worshiping, catching up....meditating. I believe I will start with a special time of praise....and thankfulness....after all, where would I be without peanut M&Ms?!