Slow down and listen...

   I’ve learned quickly being a mom that profound and important conversations with your kids don’t usually happen when you want them to. The deep philosophical questions kids have about life will broadside you out of the blue, when you least expect it. For me, this means that I have to continually pray for God to help me “hear” their conversations in the midst of the chaos. If I always have the radio blaring, my phone up to my ear, the TV loud, the Ipad open, or stress written all over my face, I am going to miss these precious moments God is giving me with my kids.
    When I’m 2 minutes from the drop-off at school and Emma asks, “Why are some kids so mean?” or when I’m trying to make a deposit at the bank and Ben wants to know why God lets people live under bridges. Or when I’m exhausted and trying to tuck kids into bed and they ask, “What will heaven be like, mom?”.
   These are the moments I pray for strength and guidance, because I just want to say “Go To Sleep!” or “We’ll talk about it later you have to go to school!” But then the moment is gone- you can’t get it back.
    When Emma was almost 6 we were making a very quick run to Fred Meyer. Our vacuum had started smoking and we had company coming in 2 hours from out of town. I was STRESSED. She was clueless singing along to the Disney Princess Soundtrack in the backseat. We parked and I gathered my purse and phone and then looked back at Emma who was staring out the window.
“Come on honey, we have to hurry!” I said motioning for her to get out.
“Mom”, she said quietly. “I want to ask Jesus into my heart”.
   My world slowed down instantly. I forgot about how much a new vacuum would cost or how I was going to get my house clean in time.  I climbed into the backseat and there in the Fred Meyer parking lot I got to witness a miraculous event on a very ordinary day. And I could have missed it all.
    Just this morning, when I hadn’t even had a chance to brew coffee, I was broadsided again.  Emma and Ben were sitting at the table looking at their crafts they made at VBS this year.
Emma said, “That song ‘Dance for Jesus’ that they played during the offering for the Madagascar kids made me cry”.
I was busy getting the coffee ready so I distractedly said, “I know, it’s a really good song.”
Ben said, “Emma, it’s a happy song about being with Jesus! I had happy tears too.”
Emma said, “Well, it’s sad if it makes you cry.”
Then Ben said, “When your heart starts to feel really big, and you can’t stop yourself from crying, then that means God is trying to tell you something.”
I set my coffee cup down. I was listening now. It was a moment I could never create, and in 3 minutes it was gone.
My prayer is that we can all really listen to our kids, God is sure using them to teach us a lot of awesome things!