As we stepped over the sidewalk chalk drawings on the way into gymnastics, I noticed the pictures said the same thing over and over…”I want to go home.” You could see as we got closer to the door that an adult had inserted the word “don’t” into some of the drawings, but it wasn’t very convincing.
The kids who drew with this chalk were at a gigantic playground, yet they missed what was around them wishing they were not there. Am I missing what is all around me because my heart wants to be somewhere else too?
I can insert another word into the sentence like the adults at the day camp did with the sidewalk chalk, but to make any lasting difference, I’m going to have to rely on my God. I can say I’ll be patient, and I probably can be until I get tired. I need more than myself…more than my capacity, energy, and effort. I need my God.
I talked with a great mom over the weekend who said, “I didn’t picture myself being this impatient. When the to-do lists get long and the day gets full, my hugs become more scattered and my understanding limited.”
Our God can wash away the marks on the sidewalk and write a new narrative for our days. We can ask Him to show up, to place His grace on our days, and to give us capacity when we are at the end of ourselves. The free life begins when we live our days in the overflow of what only He can provide and sustain.
I don’t want to escape, but I do want my God. I do want these days to be better than what I can provide my kids on my own. So I’ll plead, and I’ll ask, and I’ll wait, and my God…He will step in. He will provide when I can’t. There is more than this life powered on my own, more than just surviving. What I have found is that only with my God is there thriving.
