Monday, April 19, 2010

Monday Challenge

I get distracted when I think.

I forgot Prim's lunch for school this morning.  I was standing at the fridge, contemplating what I could pull together despite many days of avoiding the grocery store and thought to myself "that Jill Zarin is a real pill".  Just like that I was distracted by thoughts of a reality television show.  Somewhere between the Real Housewives and blackberry yogurt I lost my focus.  Really?

This is what I've become.  A semi geriatric woman inside a thirty three year old body with just enough consciousness to get through the week.  My son has become my personal, fully automated 'To Do List'.  If I could press his belly button for play and tug on his ears for Forward and Rewind my days would probably improve ten fold in the area of organization.

The worst is at night.  When all is quiet except the buzzing of my white noise machine and the overhead fan, I close my eyes and begin my prayers. I have so many to pray for, so much to be thankful for and constantly in need of guidance.  There are bloggy moms that I ask God to encourage, my husband who needs comfort before saying goodbye to our children, and, oh yeah, that small tiny prayer of becoming a mother again.  For all of my concentrating and yearning to be in complete communication with Him I wander.

And I wander far.

I find myself down a yellow brick road of thoughts and feelings without direction.  My mind becomes a crazy mish-mash of oompa loompas and flying monkies shoving prayer into the smallest recess of my mind.  You could argue that cleaning, chauffeuring and refereeing all day is reason enough to give me a pass. That being a busy mom and wife are enough to make anyone sane woman easily distracted with the day to day minutia.  You could also reason that being a single mom during a deployment shoots me clear to the top of the excuse pile right to martyr status. Distraction then becomes my acceptable sin.

But it shouldn't.

The greatest deception we face as mothers is to believe that the often chaotic, supremely tiring lives we live is good enough reason to be distracted from God.

We get sucked in.

Pulled in deep by dirty diapers, spilled cheerios and after school activities.

We miss that there is a force working against the very heart and soul of who we are as Christian women and what's worse is that we sometimes embrace it.  I am distracted by mindless thoughts of a reality show because it is a weakness and Satan uses it to distract me from quiet time with God.

When I am in a moment of prayer and my thoughts are constantly held captive by a  recipe I want to make out of my new Southern Living Magazine or a much needed blog post, I am losing a battle against darkness.

You might be shaking your head saying, April, come on now. We ALL face distractions. It's a part of life!!  I'm lucky to remember to pray every day or Everyone forgets to make their kids lunch at least once. And you're right. Once in a while is once in a while. 

But do not fall prey to the ploys of the Devil because they come rapped in shiny wrapping and social graces.   There is good reason we are reminded to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor 10:5).

This is my challenge to you, dear friends, because this is a challenge for myself. This week, when you find distraction seeping into your prayer life or devotional time, push the pause button.  Acknowledge the distraction and move back to a place of worship while holding the truth of God's Word captive.


God bless and have a productive, distraction free week!

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