Praying
Some weeks I end up feeling like I’ve run a marathon. Or like I’m caught in some endless marathon. I’ve been feeling like this for a few weeks now - end of term at school means grades for all the kids, new songs to be chosen and recorded, etc. Big conference at church means seven different practices on Sunday - you know the drill. We all have those weeks, whether its work, or sick kids on rotation. I was starting to get a little…maybe testy is a good word. I was maybe not my best, most peaceful self.
Because of a few things, I spend a lot of time each morning in God’s Word. Well, I’m sure I could always use more! But its a decent amount of time. But I tend not to pray first thing. Mostly because I’ll always fall back asleep. Just keeping it real. So I pray throughout the day - while I’m washing dishes, or driving, or getting ready in the morning. But I noticed this was starting to contribute to this feeling of no peace. Usually it works well, but last week I was just overwhelmed.
While I was driving home from dropping the kids off at school one day last week, I was going over my to-do list in my head. Laundry, cleaning, getting to work early to choose that last song, lets not even talk about the ironing. And this quote from Martin Luther popped into my head. I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.
What a challenge. So I tried it. I went home, dropped my stuff right by the front door, went and curled up in a comfy spot on my couch and set a timer for fifteen minutes. It was the best decision I made all week. In fact, when that timer went off, I set it for another fifteen because I was enjoying this peaceful time with the Lord so much.
That purposeful reset in the middle of my week was just what I needed.
Maybe you’re so busy right now that you need to just stop for a while too? Multi-tasking is awesome and being caught up is awesome and getting as much done as you can in a day is awesome. But sometimes our soul just needs to stop for a while and sit with Jesus.