“Wait just one minute….let me finish just this load of clothes…after I load the dishwasher…when I get dinner started.. after just one cup of coffee..let me finish my thoughts and send this one message..I need to take this one call.. right after the baby goes down for a nap…as soon as I get home…”
My kids hear these words in response to so many requests. Every day. My little girls are always asking for something, but more importantly they are asking for someone. Me.
“Will you read me a story? Can we please have a snack? I need a drink? Ouch! I hurt my leg! Can you fix it? Can we paint? Can we fill up the pool and swim outside? Can you set up a craft with us? Can we cook something together? Let’s go for a walk! Tickle me!”
They express their need in an unending list of questions and requests, and I respond, a lot of the time, with a matching list of excuses. And I usually believe I am right in doing so, I mean, those things have to get done, right? My kids can’t keep going without clean clothes and dishes or a mommy without coffee…It bothered me that I responded to them in this way, but I couldn’t put my finger on what to do. Then one morning I was in a Sunday School class and someone made an off-handed comment that pierced right to my heart. The discussion was about Jesus performing healing miracles while He was traveling and preaching, and as we were getting to the part where Jesus turned to the man in need of healing, the teacher said “…and as Jesus always does, He stopped.” Whoa. I started asking myself if that was true. “Always” statements need to be tested.
Zacchaeus. The woman with the bleeding condition. The Roman official with the dying son. The lame man brought in on a mat by his friends.The blind. The deaf. The hungry. Endless stories flooded my mind where I could picture Jesus either on the road walking to a destination or in the middle of a sermon when He was met with a question or request from an individual, AND HE STOPPED. It is such a large part of what makes Him not only powerful, but kind. He listens to every request and stops to address it. If my heart’s desire is to show my children the kindness of the Lord in the way that I parent, then I need to learn the skill of stopping. Surely, the daily ministry of Jesus was far more important than my daily obligations. If He can gently stop and meet the needs of His children, I know that I should as well.
When I started stopping and responding to my kids with more time together, the joy of parenting multiplied and the energy I got from actually having fun with them gave me the strength to finish my work as well. And what about when the days are not so joyous, and I get stuck in the rut of excuses or do not know how to get it all done? Well, I ask Jesus what to do, and as He always does…He stops.
freshpaintandfriedchicken 