Faithful

"I'm finished! I'm finished! Praise the Lord!"

This is what I wanted to run through the house yelling, while doing cartwheels and dancing like a crazy person . . . but it was 1:00 in the morning. I had to settle for a sigh of relief and a pat on my own back (pathetic, I know).

I have had two stacks on my desk for at least four years. You see, four years ago, I was working on completing three Creative Memories albums -- one for our family and one for each son. I had almost finished the 2007 album. When we moved into this house, I transferred the stacks from the moving boxes to my desk . . . and there they remained for four years.

Recently, I became motivated to catch up on the albums. I ventured back to when my babies were born (in 2002) and created albums as gifts for my extended family. This time I made them on the computer and had them printed. What a difference! I didn't have to either leave all my tools, paper, and albums out all the time, or drag all of it out each time I wanted to work.

I finished another digital album (2007) on Saturday that I will use for Christmas gifts this year for my family. (Shhh, don't tell!) It was then that I felt like the stacks were calling to me, begging me to finally finish them. I think they said something along the lines of "Please, for the love, will you finish us already?! You can't ignore us forever." Of course, it could've just been the grogginess talking . . .

I knew it was time to tackle them. My weeks are pretty full with homeschooling so I knew I only had Sunday to complete the project. (Besides, I work better under a deadline.) I only had December to finish for the whole year so that wouldn't take too long, right? Eight hours later, I slid the last page in its page protector. Whew!

When I was getting ready to crash in the bed, I was reminded of a verse. 2 Timothy 4:7 says, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful." If I could feel this good about completing a long overdue project, imagine how I'll feel at the end of my life here on earth. I wanted to just give up and go to sleep, but I persevered. How much more focused I should be in remaining faithful to Christ.

The apostle Paul goes on to say in verse 8: "And now the prize awaits me -- the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing."

When Christ returns or calls me Home, I would love to be able to say that I have finished the race faithfully. As I "eagerly look forward to his appearing," I want to fight "the good fight."

In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away at these albums. Maybe I can finally catch up before the kids leave for college!