Wake-Up Call

I used to keep a quirky collection: wake-up calls.

My two all-time favorites were Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, Montana and Edelweiss Resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. While I don't remember exactly how the one at Grouse Mountain went, I do know the one in Edelweiss.

I call the front desk just as I'm about to go to bed to request the receptionist to set the call. At the arranged time, a cheery, (but not annoying), female voice greets you with,

Gruss Gott and good morning! It's time to wake up! 

The world's greatest playground is waiting. 

It's so inviting and enthusiastic, I've been known to set it twice in one day. 

If only all of life's wake-up calls played out like this.

*~*~*~*

Yesterday, I spent two hours laughing so hard tears streamed down my face and left me breathless. Isaiah and I went through half, (half!), a box of school papers and notes from fourteen years ago. Oh, the notes and drawings were funny in and of themselves, but then with Isaiah's commentary. . . 

Then last night, we set the box in the middle of the living room, surrounded by all four of our children. Together, we sorted through the pile, reminiscing and laughing until we were all doubled over.

Another thing that happened yesterday is that Isaiah bought an airplane ticket back to the States.

So, sitting there in the middle of sweet notes, I love you, Eli. Do you want to play basketball tomorrow? Isaiah, and small hand prints left on card stock with finger paint, the words, Happy Mother's Day scrawled across the top, I thought about wake-up calls.

Having these last several months with our entire family together has felt like a bonus gift tagged onto an already great gift. It's been time in which I've cherished every nuance, every shared laugh, the difficult conversations, the inspirational moments. 

Knowing we're standing at the threshold of an empty nest, is a fantastic wake-up call, "Drink in all the moments! Your birds are about to take flight! Heart wide open!"

*~*~*~*

I've experienced wake-up calls at hotels where the phone robot was a monotone, "This is your wake-up call."

And other hotels where it was the receptionist at the front desk, who sounded like she was working through a list, "g'dmorning. This's the wake up call you requested." click.

sigh.

Hotels have wake-up calls, So do people. I want the culture of our company, (aka: family), to contribute a sense of anticipation and wild enthusiasm to those we come in contact with.

Life is full of wake-up calls. We have a responsibility to create cultures of honor in the spaces we influence. One way to do that is to make sure our wake-up calls are laden with love, truth, and dignity.