Yesterday Continued!

Two friends, Magda Wills and Marilyn Yocum, shared their responses to yesterday's post: All the Time in the World. Marilyn wrote in the comments and Magda in an email.

I am sharing Marilyn's comment so that no one misses it and Magda  gave me  permission to share her story. 


Often the responses to something I've written reinforce or expand on a point, and I love to "carry the conversation" further.


Marilyn wrote:

I never wore a watch while visiting my mother the last few years of her life. I would try to arrange my visits with no hard stop, running all my errands beforehand. 

At times when I was there I'd recall some little errand I meant to do and still had time for, if I hurried off. I'd be tempted, then decide it could wait. 

There isn't much you can give a 90+-year-old except your time.

 What a gift to visit someone and leave your watch at home. I loved the thought of a "visit with no hard stop." 


Magda wrote:

The concept of having all the time in the world has been the theme of my life for the past 14 years. When I left the SA I felt God calling me to an " ordinary everyday life" (Romans 12:1 & 2, The Message) with all the time in the world for people who God brought to my doorstep. It is based on the spiritual model Jesus revealed in the story of the woman at the well. Jesus was tired, sat by the well and the woman came to him.

Time is the most precious gift we can give someone. 

I have a Vidal Sassoon story in my life. In the summer of 1969 I travelled through Europe with 3 girl friends. We rented a car and camping equipment and spent 9 weeks touring the continent.

 When we reached Rome we camped on the outskirts of the city and set up our tent. On a site opposite there were three young British men who were off to the Sahara Desert in a jeep. They had large jerry cans in the back of their jeep for water and gas. 

On our last evening at the camp (both theirs and ours) just before we were ready to retire to bed we discussed our agenda for the next day. I mentioned that a priority on my list was a hair cut. I had short curly hair but it had grown quite unruly. My three friends had long straight hair which they pulled back into a pony tail every day - low maintenance. 

It was close to midnight when this discussion took place and we wondered how we would go about finding a decent hairdresser. At this point one of the British young men stated that one of his buddies was a hairdresser who worked for Vidal Sassoon in London. 

And so at midnight I found myself perched on a jerry can with two people holding a  lamp on either side of me as I got the best haircut in the world - for free.