Planning ahead is a necessity for most of us, moms in particular.
We usually have multiple to-do lists already in view, whether scribbled in haste on scraps of paper or dictated by a scheduler, when our feet hit the carpet every morning, which leads to the false assumption of control. Volleyball practices and dentist appointments and meal preparation—the management of life!—drive us.
But what about the unexpected? Not just the tragic or momentous unexpected, but the smaller interruptions? Every day dawns with a question: how will I respond to all that is before me? “The day is before us, and soon it will be behind us forever; only this once can we live through it.”*
To hear, “well done,” at the end of each day, not just the end of a life, necessitates the focus—and power—of this prayer: “occupy my heart and reign supreme.” But just as we parents choose to focus on the good decisions our kids make—the choice to accept possible failure rather than cheating; the moment taken out of a sports match to show compassion—so our Father in Heaven views us with eyes of grace. The more we surrender to His heart rule, the more our lives naturally mold to ways that make Him smile…and the more God’s Spirit, rather than merely our sticky notes or scrawled, unending lists, govern our steps.
*365 Eminent Clergymen and Laymen, God’s Minute (Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1916), page 165.
This is so good, and just what I needed to hear today…..I think that too many days I am a slave to my schedule!