Stolen Moments

Thank you, Yahoo image.

Rain.

We are getting a lot of rain in our area. Normally, that would bum me out, but quite honestly I have enjoyed the slower pace rain seems to bring. Without forcing anything, we tend to want to lie around, play in clubhouses with blankets and watch movies. Ahhhh ... what a blessing.

The rain did subside for our soccer games on Saturday and for practice on Monday night. Interestingly enough, as soon as both were over for each of my girls, the rain started back again.

This is a busy time of year for us. I spend a lot of time trying to get around it, work out simpler schedules and force us all to take a deep breath and keep on going without losing our minds in the process. I watch other Moms seem to live a more hectic life than I do (is that possible??) and yet seem to have things together and never skip a beat.

(You know what that comparison game will do, don't you?)

Truth is, I'm just not one of those people. I crave peace and serenity and without making my girls give up every single thing they enjoy, I arrange our weeks in a way that demand it. (I'm not sure if that makes me lazy or smart :)

I get really grumpy when we don't have time to sit down to eat as a family or spend some time snuggling on the sofa. These are the things that will pass all to quickly, right? I am intentional in preserving some of that time.

More times than I can count, I have talked to the Lord about our time. What can I do, Father? Where can I better serve my family? What things do my children need to be involved in while still protecting our time at home?

It is a constant prayer and one that I'm sure will only become more and more necessary as my girls get older.

This morning, I was reading Mark 1:35-37. Here's what it says ...

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee! And, he said unto them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth."

Do you see the comfort those verses bring to a busy, pulled-in-twenty-directions-at-a-time, Mom?

The Son of God becoming flesh on earth to experience all that you and I experience is such a personal thing for you and me. Christ knows each and every emotion we feel and that doesn't leave out or diminish the sometimes taxing schedule of being a Mom and being pulled in so many different directions.

Picture our beloved Christ stealing away for a few moments to spend time with his Heavenly Father. Then, just picture him becoming startled as his disciples interrupt his quiet time and say, "Where have you been? Everyone is looking for you!" Is there a Mom (or woman) reading this that has never heard those words when trying to spend a few moments alone?

I love that God is willing to be so personal with me and remind me in his precious Word that He gets it. He understands my heart! He understands our lives in today's culture! He understands when we're trying our best to sit at His feet yet life .... a crazy, busy life at that ... beckons.

We just have to keep going. Keep searching for the moments we can steal away to be with our Heavenly Father. That is the only relationship that will sustain us. He didn't give up .... and neither can we.