You may wonder what life is like with eight children.
It is like one unending, insane game of “Twenty Questions” mixed with the game, “Telephone.” For example, child “A” might say, “I wonder if ice would float in water in space?” Child “B” says, “Everything is floating in space.” So far, so good. But then child “C” enters the conversation. “There’s ice floating in space?” This is when child “D” walks into the room and demands, “I want ice in my drink too!” It’s all downhill from there as my youngest starts crying that she doesn’t have any ice in her cup. While I am trying to get ice for her, child “B” informs me that snow burns, (because of course he has tried this) and child “A” starts to move toward the ice and matches. This is usually when I somewhat lose it and call for quiet which lasts exactly 34 seconds before someone starts the game up again!
This all might sound humorous, but remember, we play this game for approximately 12 hours a day. The thing is, I don’t think this is something only my children do. I think we end up doing this to God. I know I can start questioning things like His provision, His goodness, or if He has really given me all I need in the way of patience and strength for the day. Sometimes prayer can become more like twenty questions without a pause to be still and hear an answer. Also, just like in the game, “Telephone,” where the message gets hopelessly jumbled, I can get confused, listening to all the wrong sources, trying so hard to figure out what God is doing in my life.
For now I am still the one with all the answers and the direction for my children. Soon enough they will have to learn to hear God themselves and discern His will for their lives. My requirement of them right now is the same one God has for us: be still and listen. It’s amazing how clear things become when we make time for these two disciplines. I may not always get a direct answer from God, but I do get the peace of His presence and the assurance that He has everything in His control. Which is such a relief because I am still trying to figure out how snow burns!
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” Proverbs 1:5
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