Power Down

What was I thinking.

It was Friday morning before I was about to leave for Lubbock, Texas. I was going to be leading a girls' retreat, giving talks on self-worth and purity all day the next day. Because of the flight schedule and kids' bed times, I wasn't going to see the kids until Sunday morning.

And I was on my phone.

I was Facebooking.

I was watching a show on Netflix while packing.

I was NOT spending time with my kids.

I am so sad to say that I was impatient with them and trying to get them to go occupy themselves with their toys while I did --- what? Pack and see what's up on Facebook?

By the grace of God... it dawned on me: I am leaving, I won't see my kids until Sunday, so POWER DOWN and be with them.

So I did. I am so thankful I did because we had a lot of fun and the goodbyes weren't too bad.

I try to remember each day is precious. The time we have with each other is a gift. I don't know when the end will be, but I'm sure that I'm not going to regret POWERING DOWN my electronics to just be present with my family. I will regret it if I don't....

I don't want to be more up to date on what's going on in Facebook or Twitter than in my children's lives. I don't want to be caught up on the next Netflix episode of whatever and miss out on taking care of what needs to be done around the house. I don't want to be up on taking care of everything around the house and miss out on making a beautiful disaster!

Earlier this year, my band, David, and I were coming home from a Youth Conference in Santa Barbara, California entitled "YOLO - You Only Live Once". As we were approaching the landing strip, all of a sudden the plane shot back up. We knew something was wrong, but nobody said anything at first. A few minutes later, I see the flight attendants run to the back of the plane and search an overhead compartment and pull out a large manual.

At this point I knew something was very wrong. I couldn't imagine what it was... a sick or injured passenger? Something wrong with the plane? Terrorist? My mind was racing. I began to pray a Rosary.

About halfway through my Rosary, the crew got on the intercom and said they were going to prepare us for an emergency landing, because the landing gear was not coming down. They asked us to look at the safety card in the pocket of the seat in front of us. I couldn't process anything. It may as well have been written in Chinese.

As the flight attendants began to give us instructions... take everything off your face, taking nothing with you, lean forward with our arms crossed in front of our face when they shout at us to "brace" .... All I could think of was my kids.

They were staying with my parents. And in a few minutes.... they could lose their mom and dad.

David and I weren't even sitting next to each other -- he was way up ahead on the right side of the plane, and I was in the back, right behind Nick, our bassist. David looked back and we said nothing, but the look meant everything....we knew we loved each other. We knew we were both praying for our children. We knew God was in control.

Initially I cried... I cried for my kids and the confusion they would have if we disappeared from their lives all of a sudden.

But then a peace washed over me. Instead of praying that I would live, I prayed God would take care of our kids, no matter what happened.

We were told to look around at the people sitting next to us so that we could help them.

Boarding the plane, people hardly look at each other. This time, we all recognized each other's humanity. It was a beautiful encounter of life versus death. I can't explain how profound that moment was.

The attendants finally shouted that we were preparing for landing... "BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!" They screamed at us.

I leaned forward and closed my eyes. Whatever happens, I am in Your hands, O God. I trust my children to You. I trust my husband to You. Have mercy on us.

We landed.

We landed fine. I could barely walk my shaken self off the plane.

The band and David and I all embraced. The moment was surreal.

The next conference we do will be called... "Live a Long Happy Life and Die of Natural Causes at a Very Old Age."

We couldn't wait to get home and hold our kids.

So, I don't know what I was thinking, about to leave town this weekend and not spend some quality time with my kids.

POWER DOWN.

Our electronics are the biggest reason we run out of time to just be, to pray, and to love.

God bless you all and may we all take time to POWER DOWN.

Amen.