Sometimes it seems like my favorite word is “No.” It’s constantly pouring from my mouth about every little thing my kids ask. I’ve had to ask myself why I continue to say no. Is it out of selfish motive? Am I too busy to turn around and watch my children when they say, “Hey Mom, look!” Am I distracted with what I’m looking at on my phone? Am I too busy cooking dinner or doing dishes? Am I so focused on checking off items on my to-do list? Or maybe I say it because I just cleaned up a huge mess and I don’t want to have to pull everything out again just to create a new mess.
The years of them wanting my attention are so short. As a mama of three, 4 years old and under, I’m limited. I can’t give them each my full attention all of the time, but I want to do my best in this area. I want them to see that Mommy cares so much about their newest drawing and how they “washed” the windows with the wet rag because they wanted to “help” Mommy.
Can you imagine if we called on God and we heard Him say, “Just give me a minute, I’m kind of busy over here with bigger things. I’ll get to you when I can.” I would feel pushed off, unimportant and heartbroken that what I wasn’t more of a priority to Him. But in reality, He is delighted when we call on His name. He is ready and waiting to hear us say “Hey Dad!” and He’s wants to be a part of all of our little moments and big moments.
The truth is, there’s always going to be something else that needs to be done and another project to tackle, but our time where it feels like we’re being pulled in a million different directions is flying by. What if we said yes a little more this week? What if we were more intentional about watching them when they said “Look, Mom! Look, Dad!” Memories might be made. We might be able to bring them into what we are doing without it feeling like an inconvenience. It might allow us to slow down a little bit and focus on the ones that are most important to us.
Oh Lord, help us to be present with our little ones. Help us to show them our love and most importantly, your love by just being with them. We want to be intentional with our time that you have given us. We pray for power from your Holy Spirit to be the moms that you created us to be.
Leave a Reply