“Mummy, I’m hungry”.
“Mummy, I’m bored”
“Mummy, she just looked at me!”
“Mummy, I want to make something”
“Mummy, he won’t let me play”
If your family is in the middle of the school holidays, I’m sure you can relate! The holidays are a time of relaxing, going away, making memories and reconnecting with your children. At least that’s what I thought they were supposed to be! There are moments of all of those things but the reality is that there is the pressure of trying to achieve those things alongside working and attempting to keeping the house clean and tidy and washing (so much washing!) and cooking and play dates and working out what school uniform is needed for September and all the other essential stuff that needs to happen in this 6 week break.
So how, in the middle of all the that joyful (and sometimes not so joyful) chaos, do we make sure we are not running on empty?
Take a deep breath.
Close your eyes just for a second, in the middle of the demands and the busyness, just take a moment and
Take. A. Deep. Breath.
In that moment, you are doing so much more than breathing and calming your racing heart rate. You are entering into God’s presence, just for a second. We don’t have time for more that that right now, but that second or two is enough! Invite God, verbally or silently, to fill you back up. God knows exactly what you need, he doesn’t need your words, He already knows your deepest thoughts and needs. You just need to tune in and breathe deeply, just for a moment. If you have time to make that a minute or two, even better, but a second or two is enough. Just allow the demands to become background noise and breathe God in.
The more you consciously take those moments to connect with God in your day, the more natural they will become until they are second nature. As our children get older, life will change and move and look different but for right now, whist we’re in the middle of this busy, noisy, hectic period, just take a deep breath and allow God to fill you up. No one can run on empty.
Take
A
Deep
Breath