Click here for today’s Lenten Devotional
Reflection on Today’s Devotional:
“Open the mail, email a colleague back, step over the random art project on the floor, decide what to prep for dinner. Go, go, go, go.
“Mommy! Will you play with me?”
“I’ll be there in a minute, goose!”
I’m in the checking-all-the-logistical-boxes zone and don’t want to break my concentration. One minute turns to two, then three…
“Mommy! You said you’d be just a minute!”
I feel the tug of opposing “shoulds” – the shoulds of shared household chores and teaching, versus the should of being present with my kid.
As I transfer the pile of laundry in my arms to the dining room table for a moment, a rainbow-hued unicorn sock escapes to the floor, and I smile at its whimsy. I feel a heart tug reminding me that it might not be long that she will love unicorns and kinetic sand, or snuggling to read with Ben and me. My pause turns into a yearning: don’t miss this moment with her. The other tasks will be here when you get back.
Sometimes play is actually the most important thing: connection, joy, dreaming beyond the present moment, and releasing our grip of control.
I drop the pile, and skip down the steps to be with my kid: my vibrant, big feeling, chatty kid. A few minutes into creating a Lego-zoo-paradise together, I’m reminded: oh yeah, I also needed this. While I show my kid that I delight in her, I feel the distinct reminder that God delights in us, too.” – Katherine Hoke (FPC Young Adult)