Love is really spelled T-I-M-E

Several weeks ago finals had come to BYU-Idaho.  If you wanted to find me I was usually in library with a pink binder on one corner of my table, an open text book to the side of me, my computer in front of me, and papers littering almost every free space on the table.  Thus it wasn’t out of the ordinary to find me walking into the library at 5 pm to meet with a girl for an English project.  The girl was already there, and it looked like she had been there for a while. 

“Am I late?” I asked.  “We’re we supposed to meet at 5:30?”

“No, at 5, but that’s okay.”

“I am so sorry!  I was with one of my friends who I don’t get to see that often.”

“That’s fine.  It’s more important to spend time with people, than homework,” she said, “It’s those relationships that we get to bring with us to the next life.” 

I sat stunned.  Usually when someone is late for a group project people aren’t too happy.  But this time my partner taught me a truth that helped me make important decisions the week before finals—a week when most people are to be found buried under books and papers.    

About a week before my first test I received a Facebook message from my aunt who lives in Arizona,

“Hey Amanda, we are in town visiting my grandparents in I.F. We're heading to Rexburg to see my old stomping grounds. Call us if you have time for a visit.”

I called them about thirty minutes later.

These were some of my favorite cousins.  They had lived at our house for about a year total when they only had two little girls.  They now had five girls and a boy, and their oldest was now a Mia-Maid.  As I pushed my tests and papers  to the side I reflected on what my partner had told me.  Yes, tests needed to be studied for, papers had to be written, and even though I would bring with me whatever knowledge I attained in this life to the next, I knew that being with my family was perhaps the most important thing I could be doing.   We had a wonderful afternoon walking around the BYU-I campus, eating at Wingers, and finally walking around the Rexburg Temple grounds.  Even though it had been around three years since I had seen them, the four oldest girls didn’t hesitate in being my best friends for the afternoon.  Our relationship was strengthened that day, and was worth any paper or test. 

My cousins and I in front of the Rexburg Temple

Several days later I once again left behind my books and notes to spend my evening with some high school friends, one of which I hadn’t seen since before my mission.  When we arrived at her house my friend gave me a hug, “Amanda, it feels like we never said good-bye!” 

It did kind of feel like that—just like we were back in high school again, except for the fact that her two little girls needed constant attention, and my other friend announced that she was going to have a baby in a few months.  Instead of talking about the upcoming school dance, we talked about raising kids, instead of laughing over a prank we pulled, we laughed over the perpetual energy of my friends two-year old.  Instead of staying up until twelve talking about what it would be like going to college, we said good-bye at nine, having already been worn out because of college life. 

When I came home my books and notes were right where I had left them.  Those books and notes weren’t going to change, but mine and my friend’s lives were, and I didn’t want to miss it.

When I take my last breath I won’t regret not studying harder for a test if it came at the “price” of strengthening relationships with my family and friends. 

Barbra Bush said, “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent.”

Let’s remember that when a friend or family member calls on us for an afternoon together, or an hour to talk.  They are the most important things in this life.