We are very good at making time for occasions.

Birthdays.
Holidays.
Weddings.
The dinners planned weeks in advance.

We put them on calendars and make certain we are there.

But most of a life is not lived on occasions.

It is lived on Tuesdays.

At the kitchen counter while someone makes coffee.

In the car on the way to somewhere neither of you particularly wanted to go.

Sitting on the porch after supper.

Folding laundry while someone tells you a story you have probably heard before.

Walking out to check the horses.

Calling for no reason other than you thought of them.

These moments rarely feel important while they are happening.

There is no photograph required.

No reservation.

No announcement that this is one of the moments you will someday miss.

And perhaps that is why they are so easy to postpone.

We say we should get together.

We promise to call.

We think there will be a quieter week.

There is always something that needs doing.

But the people we love do not need only the grand occasions.

They need some of our ordinary days.

And we need some of theirs.

So today…

Sit a little longer.

Make the call.

Invite someone over without cleaning the house first.

Have the coffee.

Take the walk.

Stay at the table after the plates have been cleared.

Do not wait for an occasion to make time for someone you love.

The time together is the occasion.

—

“Let us love one another, for love comes from God.”
1 John 4:7