Don’t get me wrong I adore sitting in my chair in my bedroom, candle lit, cup of coffee, bible open, pretty notebook with the perfect weight paper and space between lines, 15 different colored pens, 3 different color highlighters, a snuggly blanket on my lap and kids playing peacefully in the basement.
However do you know how often it looks like that or feels that wonderful? Not very often.
A lot of times one of these, a combination of these, or all of the following things are happening in tandem:
Naked or half naked children running through my room,
a Nerf war,
an open yogurt container carried by a 2 year old entering my bedroom,
screaming coming from the basement because they can not agree on a TV show,
a 4 year old asking me if I want to see his muscles,
or sometimes it is actually quiet and no matter how pretty the notebook, how perfect the pens glide on the page I can not feel peaceful. I think of how I yelled, how much laundry has to be done (the other day me 8 year old reminded me of ‘my’ laundry duties during my ‘mythical quiet time’) , or how many granola bars the kids have eaten today.
There are times when I get so stinking crabby because that quiet time does not happen how I want it to. I throw a 2 and a half year old sized temper tantrum. I pout, I tell the kids that I didn’t get a second of quiet…
Why do I do that? Because the myth of the magical quiet time is an idol of mine (one of many). I do truly adore reading my bible. However do I need to be in my room, blanket on my lap, with all the other things I like to have? No, I don’t. None of these things are bad things though. All of them are good. None of them are needed for God to meet us and communicate his love to us.
I have to face the fact that it’s probably even good if I’m not holed up in my room with my bible. Having my kids watch me read my bible might actually be a good example.
So if you are a mama reading this go for the hot coffee and quiet room those are good things AND crack that bible open in the middle of the chaos that’s good too. God’s going to meet us in the chaos. Chaos is where he likes to enter. He created the world out of nothing, walked with the crazy Israelites through the wilderness, came to this chaotic world as a baby, and meets us in everyday of our chaotic lives whether we feel it or not.
Our God who created the world can meet us in the middle of the chaos.
Loved In Spite of Self 