I’ve never been so thankful for an hour.
(Not since last November’s fall back time change).
Because I hate it when I’ve packed our family schedule so tight that none of us can wiggle. There is no space for mistakes, no leeway for lateness and certainly no time to take off our shoes in the backyard and feel the new grass. It’s during times like this that I struggle to write because I have no time to think, no time to hear anyone else but myself recite our daily schedule in my head.
Weeks like this are rare, but when they happen, we all have to fight to function well. We move from school to lesson to dinner to event without much stopping.
This is one of those weeks.
But yesterday, I had an unexpected and undeserved hour of quiet.
The second grade field trip ended by 1:45 and I asked Hope’s teacher if I could take her home. What were they going to do until 3 o’clock. Could she finish her work from there?
Absolutely.
So I piled Hope and her backpack back into the now empty car (still echoing with the memory of six seven- and eight-year-olds 15 minutes before) and drove her home.
I drove slowly and she was quiet in the back. We both needed this extra space in our day.
At home she finished her work quickly and then we played together. Her sister wasn’t home but had spent the afternoon at her Mimi’s and it was quiet in the house. Hope noticed this,
It’s so quiet, Mama. I like this.
Away from the classroom. Away from the other kids. Away from the TV or the Internet. Free space. In our day and now inside us.
A chance to wiggle our toes and take off our shoes for a little while. We both needed the time to rest and to be restored.
After a few minutes of arranging horses in made-up family groups on the floor of the playroom Hope got dressed and we headed to our next thing. We both felt healed in small ways.
When I don’t have wiggle room, I can’t hear anyone. My schedule grows up and over my ears and I’m deaf. I can’t hear the needs of my girls or my husband because they are all heard through the filter of what I need to get done. I can’t hear in they way that I need to in order to sit down to write every day.
And I surely cannot hear God.
Only during retreat, during the quiet can I hear Him. I have to quiet the noise, the schedule and the doing in order to be calm enough to hear. It kills me that I’m the kid with her nose in a book when God is trying to talk to me. He calls my name ten time and I’m never concerned about what He’s saying. I don’t want to live like this.
And I don’t want to live my life deaf to the lives and needs of those who are most important to me. I want to hear and to hear I must stop and listen.
How’s your hearing today?
Tags: busyness, children, God, hearing, heart, listening, schedule
That quiet time is so important – for everything. I find the weeks where we’re booked solid are so trying for so many reasons. You’re right, you can’t hear anything. We’re pretty schedule free right now (The kids are under three) but I keep saying that I swear we won’t over schedule ourselves as they get older and busier… but I have a feeling that will be a challenge.
I need that quiet, too….often !
otherwise I miss out on all that’s around me and don’t realize it until it’s too late….
Great post. I spent a much-needed “quiet” day yesterday as well.
Ahhhhhhh
Lately, my hearing hasn’t been so great. My body screaming at me that I need to slow down, God whispering to me that I need to re-prioritize… This is the third or fourth post I’ve read from different blogs (all by Christian women) about getting rid of the “clutter” of hurry. The culture of our country, however, sometimes demands that we constantly be doing… I’m consciously making the changes to stop doing.
Great post Sarah!
and I then take a deep breath…..thanks.
You are so right. I find myself doing the same thing … keeping me, my husband and our boys so busy that I/we can’t hear God. I’ve been working on slowing things down, making time to enjoy my family and my blessings. Glad you had time with your little girl.
Oh, goodness- I have been feeling this lately! Today, while trying to get laundry done so I could go run errands in time to be home for dinner, I could not get my 2 year to walk downstairs to the laundry room. Instead he wanted to run around on the front lawn. I fought him for a few minutes and then thought- why am I fighting this? Moments like that are so important. After 15 minutes of running, watching little leaves fall and watching the cars go by, we both felt refreshed and he did not even fight me getting into his car seat. It made me realize how little time I leave for moments and listening and enjoying. Thanks so much for this sweet reminder!
I definitely need this quiet time too– for listening to God, my husband, my children and myself.
I got some extra time with my oldest yesterday too. I had to pick him up early for a doctor’s appointment, so after we were done there, we had some time where we went to the store to pick out “big boy” underwear and then to explore a new playground. It was wonderful and was exactly what I needed before I plunged into today.
[...] Sarah at Best Days of My Life wrote about Hearing and having just one hour of [...]