Peace....for my children, for my home

As I sat in the airport, eating my Denver Egg Bite and drinking my Coffee (extra cream and splenda), I looked at all the busy people around me.  Anyone else like to people watch?  People were hurrying from one gate to the next.  Most were on their phones scheduling appointments for the moment their plane would touch down.  I heard a contractor giving dimensions for a countertop.  I heard another man talking to his little boy, saying he had to hang up so he could begin a conference call. You could hear the regret in his voice.  He wanted to keep talking to his son.  Another lady was upset she forgot her makeup at home and wondered how she could go to her business meeting without it.

 There was lots of busyness around me.  And I get it.  I get that people are making a living for their families.  They are trying to use every available minute to get things done. I really do get it.  But there was so much busyness.  As I ate my yummy breakfast, I just watched.  Even though  I have a different sort of "busyness" in my life and my days look nothing like theirs, yet, I can be caught up in the "trying to get everything done" mode just like them.  I can be overwhelmed at the things forgotten, the specific measurements, and the meetings ahead.  They can overtake my days.

 And then, two verses stood out to me.  One is a verse I chose weeks ago to memorize.  Another was on my reading schedule for the day.  Perfect timing.

"Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife." Proverbs 17:1

"And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD;  and great shall be the peace of thy children."  Isaiah 54:13

The comparison of what I saw in the airport and these verses is quite different.  Quietness or Busyness.  Sacrifices with Strife or Working Hard but with Peace.  A Home Filled with Lonely Days or Peace of thy Children.

It made me want to stop and ask some people in the airport.  Is it worth it?  Are you really working hard to provide for your family or is this a drive that supersedes them.  Is it too much?  Is your home full of sacrifices, but not enough moments together?  Not enough memories?  Not enough peace?
Do you have moments of "Being still and knowing He is God?"

Then, I thought of my life.  Yes, it's very different than the business woman.  But yet I can fall into the same trap.  I can put something on my agenda and it will supersede everything else... My home, my children, what God would have for me to do.  It's easy to get caught up in the moment. My home can be a place of  "Let's get stuff done and accomplished!"  But not, "Let's make memories and spend quality time with one another!"  I want my home to be filled with peace.  I want that....need that....for my children, my husband, myself.

So, how does that happen?

~I must hold my schedule, my moments, my days in the light of God's Word.  What would He have for me to do?  Day by Day, Moment by Moment.

~Take time to think.  A couple weeks ago I saw Silas sitting out on a stump in our yard.  I went outside and asked him what he was doing.  He said, "I'm just thinking."  "Mom, I think that's one of my favorite things to do, just sit and think."  And I thought, how cool is that!  I can learn so much from my 10 year old.  I want to take time to just sit and think on how good God has been to me.  Think about the beautiful creation around me that he made for us!  Think about so many wonderful blessings.  Quietness and time to just sit and think.  Sounds so peaceful!

~Look people in the eye.  I noticed that in the airport there wasn't a whole lot of eye contact.  People were so focused on the devices in their hands...phones, tablets, laptops...that was their focus. At home this can easily happen too.  We can be so focused on something else that we don't even look in the eyes of the people in our home.  Eye contact can convey so much love.

~Appreciate the small things.  One of my goals for 2019 was to "Stop and Smell the Peppermint"  Take time to enjoy things like the smell of your favorite candle.  The baby's adorable dimple when you make silly faces at her.  The reaction on your husband's face when you wink at him from across the room.  Looking an extra moment at the picture your daughter colored for you.  Stop.  Enjoy the little things, that one day will be a big thing and you'll wish you could live that moment again.

Peace for my children.  That's what I want.  I don't want a busy home.  I want a home full of wonderful memories!  I praise the Lord for giving me Scripture always right on time!