For in him all
things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been
created through him and for him (Colossians 1:16 NIV).
After
having one child, I knew I was in over my head and something had to change. By
the time I made it to number three, I understood that multitasking was a must
for survival. By the time I had number five, I was a master at executing two or
more jobs concurrently. While the chicken was frying, I was grabbing a load of
laundry out of the dryer and starting the next. Since my job entailed hours of
driving and transporting, I learned to spend driving time either yelling at
kids, putting on makeup, eating, praying, or listening to audio books on how to
raise these challenging children. I come by this non-stop, working behavior
naturally as my mother never stops and even at eighty-seven she could run
circles around most twenty year olds.
My
precious sister is also very skilled at handling several tasks at a time and
for months, prior to my daughter’s wedding last summer, she came over to assist
me around our house. The reception was at our home where the house and yard
were in need of a major face-lift. She
helped me clean, paint, weed, and even power wash. Recently, she told me she
was cleaning her house to get ready for a party she was having there. While I
could never come close to reciprocating for all her hours of hard work, I was
excited about offering a helping hand.
When I
got there, she was about to get in the shower so I received a few instructions
and started cleaning. The mop was drying on the back porch so I stepped out to
grab it. When I turned to come back in, I found that I had locked myself
out. I had no cell phone, no car keys,
no book to read and a perfectly clean yard and patio that were in zero need of
work.
Because my sister was in the shower, I knew
she could not hear me for awhile, so I just sat. This was totally out my normal
routine. After a moment, I decided this would be a good opportunity to pray and
enjoy God’s handiwork. I had considered
a three day silent retreat over the summer, but it had not worked out. So, I decided that since I had a moment, I
would have a ten minute silent retreat with God. I was immediately ashamed at
how I squashed God, the almighty Creator of the universe, into my multitasking,
hectic lifestyle.
In that
short ten minutes I enjoyed the beauty of the oak trees as they gracefully
draped the backyard and driveway. I was intrigued at how the brightness of the
kelly green grass had made such a drastic turnaround from the dingy browns of
winter. A red bird dropped in for a momentary visit along with a dainty little
squirrel who scampered along the fence line as if he had urgent business to
tend to next door. The sky was getting
bluer as the rain from the night before was slowly soaking into the earth. God
deserves my full attention and I highly recommend getting locked out of the
house to enjoy his magnificent creation!
Michele
060112
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