Morning at the Park...
I took the girls to the park today. It was blustery and cold for a late June day. We had to wipe the slides down because of the recent rain.
The girls conquered things that they never have before, even clad in rubber boots. They climbed ladders, climbing walls, and tunnels. They played with children we didn't know. They learned one girl's name. They danced in the gazebo and wrote numbers and letters in the sand.
For an hour I didn't contemplate my to-do list, or think about what I need to make for supper, or the dishes in the sink. I played with my girls and as I did I realized that God had answered a prayer of mine that I had prayed early this morning.
I was feeling rather out of control. And it seemed like everyone else was in control, even my own children. I felt like I was talking to empty air most of the time. I repeated myself too many times. I was desperate for a change. A change in me and in them.
What was the key? Time. I had to give them time. Without an agenda or a plan or something that needed to be done first. I had to give them "me", unencumbered and undistracted. I had to chase them around the gazebo, climb the stairs, push them on the swing, draw numbers in the sand without constantly looking at the time and figuring out what I needed to do for dinner.
Time is a hard one for me. As a stay at home mom, chief cook and bottle washer, laundress, and teacher, it is hard for me to carve out those undistracted moments during the day. I am far from perfect at this. I always have a list a mile long that needs to be done, but one thing that God has spoken to my heart over and over again is to be present. Instead of yelling at them from the other room, to go out, speak to them, figure out what's going on. Instead of just taking away whatever the fight is over, to mediate. Instead of just putting my head down and ignoring the screaming for the sake of my to-do list, I need to stop, put the list out of my head, and focus on my girls. I need to take the time.
Slowly He is teaching me how to do that. Whether it's all piling on the couch and reading, or a walk to see the neighbor's goats, or a morning at the park; He is teaching me how to be present. He is teaching me how to lay aside what seems important for what really is.
The girls conquered things that they never have before, even clad in rubber boots. They climbed ladders, climbing walls, and tunnels. They played with children we didn't know. They learned one girl's name. They danced in the gazebo and wrote numbers and letters in the sand.
For an hour I didn't contemplate my to-do list, or think about what I need to make for supper, or the dishes in the sink. I played with my girls and as I did I realized that God had answered a prayer of mine that I had prayed early this morning.
I was feeling rather out of control. And it seemed like everyone else was in control, even my own children. I felt like I was talking to empty air most of the time. I repeated myself too many times. I was desperate for a change. A change in me and in them.
What was the key? Time. I had to give them time. Without an agenda or a plan or something that needed to be done first. I had to give them "me", unencumbered and undistracted. I had to chase them around the gazebo, climb the stairs, push them on the swing, draw numbers in the sand without constantly looking at the time and figuring out what I needed to do for dinner.
Time is a hard one for me. As a stay at home mom, chief cook and bottle washer, laundress, and teacher, it is hard for me to carve out those undistracted moments during the day. I am far from perfect at this. I always have a list a mile long that needs to be done, but one thing that God has spoken to my heart over and over again is to be present. Instead of yelling at them from the other room, to go out, speak to them, figure out what's going on. Instead of just taking away whatever the fight is over, to mediate. Instead of just putting my head down and ignoring the screaming for the sake of my to-do list, I need to stop, put the list out of my head, and focus on my girls. I need to take the time.
Slowly He is teaching me how to do that. Whether it's all piling on the couch and reading, or a walk to see the neighbor's goats, or a morning at the park; He is teaching me how to be present. He is teaching me how to lay aside what seems important for what really is.
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