Spoon Under My Pillow

"They say that these are not the best of times
But they're the only times I've ever known
And I believe there is a time for meditation
In cathedrals of our own
Now I have seen that sad surrender in my lovers' eyes
I can only stand apart and sympathize
For we are always what our situations hand us
It's either sadness or euphoria"
Billy Joel- Summer, Highland Falls

How disappointing it is to work so hard for something only to see it slip through your fingers and escape your grasp. We've been getting a bit of snow here lately and my children were desperately wanting a snow day. An interesting story began to spread around the school and was inevitably acted out in our home. It was told that if they wore their pajamas backwards and inside out, placed a white crayon in the freezer, flushed an ice cube down the toilet and placed a spoon under their pillow before going to bed for the night, school would be canceled the next day due to excessive snow.

Can you imagine the excitement in my home when my two youngest heard this tale and decided to follow the directions? What great hope they held that they might be able to sleep in and avoid school the following day! But, when daybreak arrived and all of the snow had been shoveled and plowed away, the looks of disappointment on their faces made me want to cry right along with them!












Spoon Under My Pillow

For don't we all know
that deep disappointment,
that crushing of dreams, the letting go of our desires?

We want so badly to have control
of our little lives, but God
always sends surprises and we must humbly accept

And we find a place of comfort
deep within our hearts
where we can release our sorrow if only for a moment

We fall to our knees
bury our brokenness in our hands
and release the tears until numbness takes their place

But somehow we must hold on
to the hope that tomorrow offers
believing that God will carry us through to a new day

And so we place a spoon under our pillow,
a relic in our palm, a seed within the garden
and faithfully carry on

We trudge on through the snow
we pray and work our normal day
believing that tomorrow new joys will come our way