Abiding—it’s popping up everywhere I turn. Our adult Sunday School class. Our pastor’s sermons. The book I’m reading. Has this ever happened to you? God seems to be trying to teach me something, and all of a sudden, I see/hear it everywhere.
But I’m beginning to wonder about God as a teacher. I think he must be of the unit study camp, rather than the textbook method. He doesn’t just assign me some passages and then give me one test, hoping I’ve crammed enough to pass. No, he integrates it across my life. In all my relationships. Husband. Children. Daughter. Friend.
As we heard yesterday in Sunday School, it all begins with a relationship with Him. So it makes sense that He would assign me practice in all my relationships.
It all started last Friday morning. After dropping the older three off, I returned home looking forward to a couple of hours with just Benjy. Judy would nap the whole time and Ben and I would have some quality and quantity time reading the library books about gold that he asked me for. When I checked the answering machine, I saw six messages. I had only been gone 2 hours. Good grief.
Two were from my husband. Two were from students. And two were from my dad. The messages weren’t clear, but I did catch Greenville Hospital, broken arm, call me. All of a sudden, my plans shifted.
After two days of running to ERs, I convinced him to stay with us. Thankfully, when it came up the second time, he agreed.
So how do I abide in all this? Abide seems to imply rest. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t do rest well. My naps are typically 8-10 minute power naps. When I sit down to watch a movie with Ray, I always have something to do, or at least used to, until he said how much he’d like to just watch a movie with me for once. For me to rest seems to imply laziness. And yet, God promises us rest. And commands us to abide.
Rest? Abide? With 5 kids, I hardly rest during a normal week. Now, with another “kid” who also has a problem with rest and margin, I’m resting even less. Today I spent most of the afternoon and evening running to the doctor, to his house, to retrieve his van from where he left it for his ambulance ride. Tomorrow will be more of the same. So as I drove, I meditated on how to rest and abide in the midst of these circumstances. (not in order of importance).
1. Don’t overdo. Realize that these next few weeks won’t be normal. Don’t try to make them so.
2. Don’t try to impress people with how you are juggling everything. Because you will drop some plates.
3. Accept help, even from those who seem to need rest as much as you.
4. Love.
5. Realize that some meals may come through the drive-thru.
6. Be thankful. For little things. For major things. In all things.
7. Pray without ceasing.
8. Don’t complain about the person going 35 in a 55 on a road where you can’t pass. Slow down and abide for a while.
9. In school, focus on the essentials. Lighten their load and yours. Keep moving ahead even if the steps are smaller than you want.
10. Communicate. With God. “Help” With my husband. With my kids. With dad. Because relationships die without it.
