Life lessons.

The other day, Luke was playing with Abram when he got home from work. The giggles, squeals, and grunts I heard from their wrestling match brought nothing but smiles to my face as I prepped dinner in the kitchen. Luke beckoned me to watch Abram’s excitement, his arms and legs going crazy. To be honest, I wanted to keep cutting the onions and peppers and continue cooking. After a couple minutes, I obliged the request. When I got in the living room, I was reminded of a sobering reality: I often elevate doing over being. We commented about how fast our little boy is growing and changing. Daily, sometimes hourly it seems, we see new changes in his little body, personality and skills. Being home with him during the day, I have the privilege of spending so much time with him and for that I’m so grateful. However, I’m starting to notice that I can start slipping into a mode where I elevate doing tasks more than being with him. It’s a hard balance at times. The laundry doesn’t wash, dry, fold and put itself away. Dinner doesn’t magically appear on the table. Toilets and tubs (I hate cleaning tubs by the way) don’t disinfect themselves. And yet, there is nothing like watching your child’s face light up when you get down on their level, play with them and give them one-on-one attention. Twice in the last week, someone who I don’t know has told me to enjoy every minute with Abram as he will be grown before I know it. Both people were a couple of generations older and I believe they have some life wisdom in sharing that with me. So I’m in a mode of learning the balance.

This mom lesson got me thinking about my faith as well. I often get caught up in the doing and fail to just be with the Lord. Just like Martha, (Luke 10) my fleshly self wants to be involved in so many activities, bible studies, service projects and miss the most important part: sitting at the feet of Jesus. The ironic part is when we sit with Him, the other aspects (loving others, involvement in activities) naturally happen as an overflow of what’s in us. Easy to say, difficult to live out.

Ultimately, when the day is done, I first want to be known as a child of God, wife and mom. May my actions, tasks and busyness not interfere with where my true identity should be.