Occupation
Making conversation, a friend asks one of my daughters, “I haven't seen much of your mom lately. Is she doing ok?”
“Um, yeah. She's good. Just kinda busy, you know.”
“Busy? With what?”
“Uh … well, she has a kid finishing up elementary, a kid finishing up junior high, one finishing high school, another graduating college and moving into an apartment, one who is expecting a baby, another who is getting settled in a new town, and one who is parenting the three grandkids she loves. Plus she and dad are building a house and she has spent most of the last year serving on the pastor search committee. So … just a little busy, I guess.”
Bless.
Do you know what blesses me most about hearing this encounter retold?
●Someone misses me. I have been strictly conserving social energies these past several months, so I have skipped out on several group gatherings, and it is kind of nice to be missed.
●When my daughter gave a defense for what was occupying my time, she never even mentioned my pesky full-time job. Ha! In the reflexes of her mind, my work is further down the list of prioritized attention … well below my family … so that feels sweet and even surprising maybe.
●While attention (to details like food, transportation, and wardrobe) and attendance (at tournaments and award assemblies and milestones of every kind) fill a lot of my time, it is the task of attentiveness (in prayer, conversations, thoughts, and trust) that stretches and consumes me. Sure, the physical, mental, and emotional energies invested are substantial. But the spiritual effort it takes to simultaneously stay alert and be at rest … is its own full-time job.
●Amid the points of saturation, I hear from friends who are praying with me and for me, and this is the richest of blessings. Provision and protection, power and peace … plenty to go around simply because someone loves us enough to pray. This phenomenon fills me with gratitude and an eagerness to pray for others in the same way.
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
