Overwhelmed by My Blessings: Encouragement for Moms (Part 6)Sample

We’d be sitting at the table doing school, all my children together and fairly focused. That’s a win! Then, a knock at the back door. Grr! It happened almost daily. My neighbor would be bringing me a plant from her yard, or fresh lettuce from her garden, or a trinket to share. And I would quickly thank her, try to hurry the conversation along, all the while hoping my kids would still be at the table when I came back. My scheduled day and routine had been interrupted, and I wasn’t happy. I’m sure I brought my exasperation back to the table while rounding up my kiddos to teach them math and reading.

Looking back, I can see a very real missed opportunity. That knock at my door was an interruption to me. I now realize that from God’s view it was a planned visitation. An appointment sent for me to learn patience, to practice love, and to teach my children by example.

He used it for good in my life, because He wastes nothing. Yet I think I missed the real lesson and especially failed in sharing it with my children.

Interruptions are what we name unscheduled events in our routine and agenda. That time you had to stop what you were doing and run your husband’s work key to his office. When your mom phoned at just the wrong time. When you woke up sick or even worse, your husband comes home sick. When the car needs filling and you are late to work. The potty accidents, the temper tantrums, the spills.

What if we began asking God what He has for us in these “interruptions”? What if we began seeing the fracturing of our schedule and plans as a gift sent to shape and grow us? What if we stopped in the moment and asked God to show us the lesson? What if we shared that moment with our children and husband, rather than sharing our huffy exasperation?

Maybe God’s agenda could become our new agenda. Maybe that shift in plans is an opportunity to speak about grace and kindness and a life lived for God rather than living for ourselves. Maybe it’s a time to give ourselves and others some grace and adjust our timetable, rather than being mad, panicked and hateful.

With a new mindset and perspective change, we can begin calling our interruptions “Divine Appointments”. Will we allow Him to be in charge of our day?

Father, you know I like my day to have order and purpose. I pray that my idea of order and my own purposes will never overrule Your plan for my day. Help me to be extremely alert and aware when my schedule is altered, that You are very near and have a new plan that is far better than my own, even when it doesn’t seem possible. Help me recognize my exasperation as a signal that I am straying from Your presence and peace. From now on, I choose to call these interruptions “Divine Appointments”!