Time and teacups

Yesterday morning, my good friend inspired me on Facebook with her picture she'd taken of a lovely tea cup.  I like china tea cups myself.  They're so elegant and old fashioned.  My mother-in-law has a large collection of assorted teacups which was handed down to her by her mother-in-law.  My aunt also loves tea cups and she has given me a couple over the years.  What a great idea for a photo collection, I thought.

So, there I was yesterday morning, still in my bathrobe, dragging out one of my favourite tea cups, looking for decent light.  My kitchen is not optimal for pictures.  It has maple cupboards and a dark counter top, which often throws off yellow hues everywhere.   To complicate things, it was grey and raining, so I had to have the lights in the kitchen on, and I was dissatisfied.   I didn't like any of the pictures I had taken.  Then, to my frustration, the battery on my camera died.  

There really wasn't much to do about it, so I started charging the battery and got on with other matters.  Later, though, when the light was green on my battery charger, the rain had stopped and the light coming in the garden door was better.  After a few more attempts, I got something I liked better, anyway.  In the end, waiting was better.

I am by nature a task oriented person.  I like to tackle things right away.  I don't sit on things long, and that can be good, but it can be very bad.  Sometimes, I speak before I think.  Sometimes, I write before I think things through clearly.  I muttered to myself as I plugged in the battery charger, saying something like I just wanted to get this picture taken.  Later, as I heard the weather forecast, that the skies would clear, I wondered if perhaps this battery death was fortituous.  I chided myself about learning to be more patient with my tasks.

Proverbs 15:28 came flitting through my brain:

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

I realize that taking a photograph and saying words aren't the same thing, and yes, that proverb is about speech, but being too quick to react and being impulsive (as I can be) flows over into all sorts of things; serious things, like our speech and conduct.

My photography session was interrupted by a technical matter, but I'm glad it was.  It meant I could think more about it and wait for better conditions.   How often do I ponder my words?  How often when I speak or write do I allow interruptions to stop me so that I can think more?   If I'm writing something, I often get irritated by interruptions, but maybe those interruptions ought to be capitalized upon.  Maybe I want to speak my mind, I feel like I must get this out before I forget it.  Something happens and I can't finish it.  Perhaps those times are good times because it means I can ponder my words more.  Perhaps I need to impose my own interruptions on myself and say, "Wait, have you thought about this long enough?"

Interruptions can be good for us.  Sometimes, the completion of the task is not as pressing as we think.  Sometimes, the ability to say what's on our mind is not as important as what we're going to say.  Sometimes, we just need to ponder.

Comments

[rosemary]

I love china---your blue and white teacup and saucer are so pretty. I collect them too, mostly with roses on them.

[Trisha]

Beautiful tea cup, Kim, and lovely thoughts, too. More often than not, my day is full of interruptions. How wonderful to remember them as providential moments that God has ordained to make us more like Christ.

'Perhaps I need to impose my own interruptions on myself and say, "Wait, have you thought about this long enough?"' Aah, yes, I do that with my blog posts, BUT I don't do it enough with my speech! That's where I especially need to ponder more. Thank you for the exhortation, my friend!