I am always amazed by my kids’ eagerness to clean at my side, but as much fun as it is for them, I find myself getting frustrated with their added distraction from the task at hand! They are not just content to wipe the counter for me as I spray down the shower…oh no, they insist on being hip-to-hip, underfoot, and often leaving a drippy trail behind me! I get so focused on productivity that any distraction becomes a source of frustration …even if it is my darling daughter demanding my attention “Mom, you have to see this..! Mom, look! Mom, what’s that? Need more soap, Mom!! Mom, mom, mom….!” Well, reading this now, my heart melts at the beauty of her innocence, taking delight in her spirit…but in the moment, this is not my response!
Sometimes, I get too caught up in the minute details surrounding me, and the ugly circumstances I’m desperate to overcome, they are all I see. A multi-tasker I am not. And in my hyper-focused attempts at triumph, I deny myself the most beautiful gifts in my journey…companionship, help, relief, and joy. Life is intended as much more then mastery of calendars, budgets, and time…yet so often we find ourselves in these places of mere survival… And again I find myself needing a reminder that my kids aren’t there to produce a clean bathroom, but are my joy in the act of cleaning the bathroom.
A maid service would have been the efficient choice towards attaining a clean bathroom (and most assuredly mine!), but God’s seasons are not without reason. A maid could not have given me what my kids did in that moment. God sends people into our lives to act as his ambassadors, so instead of looking for him in the dust and grime between the grout lines, I need to stop and relax for a moment, and enjoy God for who he is in the people surrounding me.
As I relentlessly attempt to redeem myself, how many times will I deny the greater joy of living in God’s path? Who else has God sent into my life that I have thoughtlessly shrugged simply because they were “too distracting”? Who is purposefully placed in my path in this moment, that I choose not to acknowledge? And more importantly, what holds my focus, and is preventing me from seeing him?
I know I have been here before, and may find myself here again, but with the right attitude the power to change becomes more accessible with each visit...and without God's grace, impossible.
