Make the Morning Ready Ground

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. {EPHESIANS 6:15}

I look at the clock above the stove. Twenty minutes ’til eight. We’re ready, but where are her shoes? I’m talking to myself as usual (tell me I’m not the only one). I remind myself how we keep them in the bucket by the door and all she needs is to slip them on and get in the car. Why is this always so difficult? Even when I think we are ready, sometimes even then we are not.

The night before came the evening prep work that kept me up late. I had chopped veggies for the crock-pot, spread out sandwiches to pack lunch, gathered show-in-tell items, set the back pack by the door. Every night, the same routine keeps life running like a well-oiled machine. Almost.

We wash. Load. Wipe. Bathe. Brush. Dress. Read. Pray. Tuck. Breathe…

The hum of life starts all over in the morning. Hurriedly rushing little one from sleepy dreamland into a battle zone, hoping she has what she needs—what we both need—to be successful today. Like many days, orders bark loud in a tone that teeters on the edge of Mt. Impatient.

I’m looking high and low for her shoes and sweet girl plops down to play among scattered dolls, teeny clothes, and even tinier shoes. “Where is Cinderella’s glass slipper, Mommy?”

*Sigh…* There it goes, my patience tips over the cliff with the breeze of provocation. (Note to self: Learning forbearance in the face of a ticking clock is not the time for a lesson.)

Rewind a couple of hours… All blurry eyed and hazy, I hit the alarm clock while the moon still hung in a silver sky. Bare toes searched blindly for fuzzy slippers. Sleepy feet shuffled out to my favorite chair, and I sank into its cushions. Worries of the day ahead made knots in my stomach like hunger pangs of the soul. In the kitchen, coffee percolated with gurgles and groans.

This is when I break the fast between ready and rush. Another day plows ahead like dry wheat on rocky soil waiting to be cultivated. I am like the woman at the well, empty and weary before the day has begun. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” {JOHN 4:10}

My daily habit of devotions came from desperate places. As a new mom, I was longing for something to get me through the weary days and sleepless nights. More than anything, I desired to live out the kind of faith that I hoped to teach my own child. But without God’s word as a guide, the foot slips easily into old footholds. A few days without it, and the hollow places of my soul begin to echo like an empty well.

God’s word is vital to our well beings. Body and soul yearn for His truth and presence. Time spent reading the Bible should feel less like duty and more like vitality. Breath it in. Drink it deep. Taste and see. Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” {JOHN 6:35}

There my girl sits on a pile of dolls, pulling pants over her chubby feet as she sings loud, “This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine! Won’t let Satan blow it out. I’m gonna let it shine!”

And I smile. Okay, God. Got it. Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. {PSALM 119:105}

We head toward the door to find her favorite shoes faithfully waiting for her to strap on. Now, we’re ready. Step out in peace, little one. Step into the light, weary soul. Tummies full and feet ready.

(This post was originally published in September 2015.)