In the Footsteps of Flour and Jesus-
A reflection and devotional on parenting and Galatians 5 by the Elf- Theology Thursday 5/28/2020
Tense Beginnings:
The toddler years are amazing. Also incredibly exhausting.
My toddler and God bowled me over with some important truths this morning.
Standing in the kitchen, with anxiety and frustration heavy in my shoulders, I was working on making playdough with my daughter.
Homemade playdough has been something messy and fun we’ve been doing once a month. And it usually works out really well. But this one was a MESS before we even got started.
I tried to split the recipe into fifths.
Dye on the counter
Colors getting mixed together before we even put flour in them
Splashed oil
And then I dropped the bowl of flour. The one precariously balanced on the counter because I did not want to move the dishes that were already there. And as soon as it dropped, ‘I’ve Got Peace Like a River’ started playing on our Alexa.
My toddler looks at me and says, “Woah- mommy big mess!!”
Before I could get too upset, that thought made me giggle. I was a big mess that morning.
I had let the day and other voices overwhelm me so much that I couldn’t focus on spending this time with my baby girl or crush any of my small goals. As I was mentally re-calibrating and getting ready to clean up the mess she asked permission to play in it. Which is a pretty big deal for a two year old.
Playing in the mess:
At the beginning of quarantine, we decided that we were going to try to say ‘yes’ to as much as possible and make some extra fun messes. After all, we had plenty of time to clean it up and were going to have to say ‘no’ to a lot.
So play in the mess we did.
As she was building sandcastles out of the flour on the flour I decided I was going to try to salvage the blue playdough and moved to the other end of the counter.
I left behind a footprint and my little one immediately noticed and put her foot in my footprint. Standing the way I had stood and moving her foot away trying to make her own footprint.
The Lesson’s Came Pouring In:
It’s so easy to get caught up in a scarcity mindset right now. Feeling like there’s not enough and trying to raise our own voices and opinions above the noise. I had definitely been feeling some of that on social media in the morning.
I had also really been feeling some impostor syndrome and hadn’t gotten very many of my morning tasks done because I was overwhelmed by the notion of being not good enough to get everything done perfectly.
But there was my little girl.
Soaking in my voice and presence.
Always listening to and watching me.
Needing me to set an example about responding to messes and accidents.
Needing me to not be perfect.
Needing me to point her towards God’s perfect love.
While also teaching and reminding me of these lessons.
Both of us loved and treasured by the other.
I was instantly reminded that I needed to be doing a better job of staying in step with Jesus- because her little feet are following mine! So my feet had better be following His.
Don’t Just Stand There- Pivot!
So I squeezed her despite the squealing and eye rolling. And then I immediately reevaluated and figured out five things I could do to change my mindset.
She was watching and wanting my attention and it was up to me to respond with frustration or pivot and keep rolling.
So this is what I did…
1) Turned up some happy Jesus music and decided to put away social media for a few hours.
2) Played in the mess and tried to salvage the playdough. (Didn’t work)
[And see, here I’m tempted to type a cute quip about how ridiculous it is because who could mess up playdough. Gotta keep fighting that impostor syndrome y’all.]
3) I helped her ,help me, clean up the mess- at least the first phase of it. And cherished that interaction instead of being irritated with it.
4) I prayed for and texted a friend that I knew might need some encouragement.
5) Set her up with a snack and screen so I could really finish the cleaning, send an email and get a load of dishes started and marked off the list.
And finally, reflected that day (and the next few) on the Bible chapter that this brought to mind.
Galatians 5
Galatians 5 tells us to “Walk in the spirit, and let the spirit bring order to your life.” Right before that it talks about loving your neighbor as yourself. Whew. There’s always a lot to unpack there, but it is alwaysss a needed reminder. We could dive into a lot of the cultural and historical context of this chapter- but that’s for another post, there’s plenty to unpack with just these few snip its. The chapter later goes on to talk about the fruits of the spirit, or the character traits we develop as we do learn to keep in step with God. “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Again- always a needed reminder, especially in this difficult season.
Mindset Matters
Throughout this last year I have really been impacted by lessons from Rachel and Dave Hollis and Jon Acuff about the power of our thoughts.
Specifically, about how we can catch our thoughts and change course. It’s been harder for me to realize when I am numbing an emotion that I just need to name and deal with during quarantine. Which in turn has made it easier to spiral down the negative thought rabbit trails. Acknowledging it and changing course are huge, but doable steps!
Reflection:
1) Who can you encourage today?
2) What positivity can you inject into your thought process right now?
3) What has God been stirring in your heart about His love?
4) How can you offer yourself and those you live with grace in the next few hours?
5) What’s an action step you can take right now to crush a small goal?
This spilled bowl of flour reminded me to be in step with Jesus, snapped me into a better mindset, and gave me a really fun memory with my little girl. Who would’ve thought all that would have come from such a frustrating moment? What have you been reminded of this week?
And if you love inspirational quotes, shirts and gear- check out our affiliate partners at the Goods and Better Store! Part of every purchase is used to help donate to foster families!
Check out some of our other faith posts:
–Mother Theresa and Impostor Syndrome
–Mom’s we Love in Faith, Books & on TV
–The Chosen Show Bible Study
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