What if God is trying to tell you to slow down?

I mean currently, it doesn’t seem like life could get much slower.

The baby will only nap if you’re holding her, your older child seems to just take her good old time to finish one task because she keeps getting distracted, you’re still in your pajamas and you’re lucky you even had a chance to eat breakfast.

And then there’s the persistent knee pain that makes you move slower than usual, and the lingering cold that has had you down since last week, and that dang period that you just don’t have time for (just talking real life here, folks).

You keep planning to do some meal prep so that you can actually feel like you ate something decent (because we can’t forget about that postpartum nutrient depletion that no one talks about) but it just doesn’t seem to happen.

It just seems like the to-do list gets even longer (definitely not shorter) every day.

All the things that need done seem to take 10 times longer than they used to, and you wonder where the day went – like every single day.

You’re chomping at the bit! Why would God want you to move even slower? Is that even possible? It’s definitely frustrating, that’s for sure!

Maybe…

…it’s because he knows you’re not focused on parenting being your mission field, or because he knows you’re not present and in the moment.

…he knows you’re not taking care of yourself like you should, and the knee pain is a constant reminder of that.

I recently reread the story of Creation, and this verse stood out to me: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested…” (Genesis 2:2a KJV).

He ended his work – and from the previous verses we know he called each thing he worked on “good” – so he found an end, a stopping point, in his work.

And he was satisfied with it.

I’ve always wondered why God took a whole week to create our universe. Honestly, we know he’s perfectly capable of making something out of nothing with just a thought in his mind. So why did he spend so much time on it?

I’m finding it to be an example of being present, of focusing on the work at hand, of being satisfied at the end of the day with the fruit of your labor, and being able to call it “good”, and being able to rest.

Can you look at the work you’ve done today (not just the chores or the career, although those are important too; the guiding, the nurturing, the homeschooling, the neighboring – yes, even the resting) – can you look at what you’ve done today and be satisfied with it and call it good?

Even if the to-do list is still overwhelming?

Can you say that you were present and focused on the task at hand or the relationship-building or the Christ-following?

Maybe God wants you to slow down because he wants you to be more present today.