"Momma, Momma...Be Still"

I woke up early, anxious to have my quiet time and then get started with my day. I had so many things that I wanted to accomplish, a few things that I would have liked to have gotten done before the girls woke up at 7:00a.m., then several things that I had planned to do after I got home from taking Reagan to preschool.

I have close to 3 hours in between dropping Reagan off and picking her back up. It goes by in a blink and literally feels like 10 minutes. During that time, I try my best to do things around the house and "things" are different every single day. I have to start each and every morning by cleaning up the bomb that exploded while we are trying to get ready for school....breakfast messes, mess Gracen drags out while Reagan is getting ready, mess Reagan drags out while I am getting Gracen ready...you get the idea. Next, I move into my chore list and normally I alternate doing a chore and spending some quality time with Gracen. She is great about playing on her own, but of course wants and needs my attention from time to time. I also WANT to read to her and do puzzles with her...things that will stimulate that little brain.

Anyway, this morning, I had a long list and I was moving from one chore to another, thinking to myself, "Just one more thing, just one more thing...and then I will read to Gracen."

During this time, Gracen was following me around room to room. She probably thought we were playing "Catch Momma" because she was relentlessly trying to catch me. She was constantly saying, "Momma, Momma." I would say, "Gracen, Gracen" and then keep moving. She would go and grab a book, and then bring it to me and call my name. Then she would grab a puzzle and call my name. Then she would grab a baby praise DVD and call my name because I usually sit with her and point out objects on the screen and sing the praise songs for her.

Another proud momma moment, but I ignored her for awhile, until she became very persistent and my guilt got the best of me.

I finally stopped and reached for her and she reached back, smiling the biggest smile. We went and read a few books, then watched the entire Praise Baby DVD, which is 30 minutes long (I mean short), and played "roll the ball". All of this took about an hour, but after sitting her with for that hour, she was completely content. Her love tank was full and she went and entertained herself. I continued my chore list and made some progress.

She just wanted me. She just wanted me to be still long enough to spend some one on one time with her. After that she was satisfied and honestly, I was quite satisfied too. I enjoyed my time with her.

There are many spiritual parallels here, but one came to my mind as we were watching that DVD together.

God calls to us to slow down and spend quality time with Him. Too often we hear Him beckoning to us, calling us to sit at His feet, to pray to Him, to listen to Him, to read His Word. We continually put Him off, saying that we are too busy or that we are going to just do one more thing....and then we will have a quiet time.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God..."and Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things will be given to you."

God wants us to sit still and quiet ourselves each and every day so we can hear from Him. He wants us to know and trust that everything will get done and everything will work out if we put the relationship with Him first, above all other things. I don't want to ignore God so much in my life that He just quits calling. I also don't want to go through my days with an emptiness that only He can fill.

Did I get everything done this morning, that I needed to get done? No.

It is around 1:30 in the afternoon and I just walked through my bedroom to see my bed unmade (horrors...LOL!), a stack of clothes on top of the unmade bed that need to be put away, a stack of coupons that need sorting and organizing, and a master bathroom that really needs some attention. But I know that today I made two right choices...

Number 1- I started my day with God. I was still and quiet before Him and He spoke to my heart.

Number 2- I spent quality time with my daughter, speaking to her heart. I was still with her and let everything else wait.

Today and this weekend, I want to encourage you to spend some quality time with God and with those you love. The other things will wait.

Until next time...