Just "Be"

Do you ever get so busy with the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to just be?

As I lay with my four year-old son, Noah, in his bed tonight, we played our make-believe game of "animals." He's usually the beautiful blue rabbit with the fun floppy ears, and I'm the big brown monkey with the bright red nose. Together we act out silly stories that send us into fits of giggles. Even if we attempt to be serious and act out a Bible lesson we just learned, it's inevitable we'll wind up laughing.

After our game was over, I didn't rush off like I typically do, determined to get one last thing done before a new day dawns. Instead, I rolled over and scooped him in my arms. And in complete silence, I held my precious little boy for several minutes. As I smelled the sweet scent of his freshly shampooed hair and watched his little chest rise and fall, I relished in just be-ing.

Because so often I am busy do-ing.

I'm do-ing homeschooling.

I'm do-ing housework.

I'm do-ing laundry.

I'm do-ing dinner.

I'm do-ing things for Jesus.

And before I know it, I've missed the blessing of be-ing because I'm present in body, but absent in spirit.

In the stillness of silence, the Lord reminded me that do-ing doesn't equal be-ing. I can do and do and do and never be.

Our society measures productivity in terms of what we get done. I'm so thankful God doesn't measure my productivity in parenting that way.

A crucial aspect of loving our children as God commands us to in Titus 2:4 is willingly laying aside our doing at times to just be. And the beautiful thing about be-ing is that you don't have to be do-ing anything at all.