I’ve been reading several books on motherhood in the past two years, and one that I’ve been dwelling and meditating on is Gloria Furman’s Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations for Busy Moms. Below is an excerpt from Chapter 5: A Mother’s Call to Worship, and I’d really like to share it with you:
“When I got married, my lifestyle changed. No longer single, I adapted to life with my husband, flexing and adjusting to our new life together. When I became a mother, my lifestyle changed again. There were new routines to learn, adjust, readjust, and relearn…
I did not, however, imagine that the first thing to slip out of my daily schedule would be my regular devotional time with the Lord. Sadly, my initial reaction was to blame my baby and the new stage of life… I realised that the only time I prayed was when I wasn’t busy with the baby, and I was busy taking care of her all the time. I confessed to a friend that becoming a mother made me feel that I had forgotten the Lord, and my practice of the spiritual disciplines was revealed to be codependent on my environment.
When we feel that our environment must be “just so” in order to have fellowship with God, any wild-card elements inherit the name “interruption”. A toddler’s plea for help with a game is an interruption. The children’s early bed-time is an interruption. The baby who refuses to settle down is an interruption. What if God wants to fellowship with us right where we are — even in the commotion of ordinary life?”
― Gloria Furman, Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations for Busy Moms
Reading this chapter as we come out of the Circuit Breaker really struck a deep chord in my heart. In the past 20 months of motherhood, I have so easily used Amarie as an easy excuse for the lack of time to read the Bible and pray. I’ve unknowingly called her an interruption to my me time. I’ve grown impatient and even exasperated when she doesn’t take her nap, because that means I don’t get to rest or spend alone time with God.
But over the past few weeks, I’ve grown to enjoy time with her even more, but beyond that, I’ve learnt to enjoy time with her, with God! Through this, I’ve found that it’s easier to be patient, forgiving, and loving, and it’s been so much easier to take delight in my child just as the Lord takes delight in us. So here’s to embracing motherhood with the Lord, and finding Him in every small moment.
byamandagrace 