We Practice Sitting

Our children don’t like sitting still. Shocking right? I’m sure no parents out there can relate. Four kids six and under and they’ve got no time to let dust settle under their feet, let alone give their mother time to catch her breath. Seriously…my kids are my cardio. After a particularly wild afternoon, my husband, Brandon, and I were over the running, jumping, and barrel rolling. It was so loud we couldn’t hear ourselves think, and the kids couldn’t hear us telling them to cool it. Brandon corralled the crazy and told the kids that it was time to practice sitting. I was as skeptical as any seasoned mom of young children would be, and fully expected “sitting practice” to be a disaster. But when daddy planted each booty in a separate seat and started a timer, something amazing happened. The crazy slowly faded away. They looked out the windows, sang to themselves, quietly kicked their little legs back and forth. And when the timer went off, they got up and started playing with toys. Now when they get riled up, “sitting practice” is our go to. Sometimes they talk, sometimes they listen to a story, sometimes they just sit and think. But they sit.

I can’t really get frustrated with my kids…I don’t like to sit either. Ok, that’s not actually true.  Hand me a cup of coffee and some peace and quiet and I’d more than happy to sit until someone drags me out of the chair. No, my problem isn’t that I dislike sitting, it’s that I have no time to sit. My list is too long, the kids need me too much. If I sit down, there is something somewhere tha

t is not getting done, and I really can’t feel relaxed until these things are checked off of my list. No, sitting isn’t really a luxury many of us feel like we have. And yet it’s something God so desperately wants us to do.  John 15:7 says “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”  There is nothing like real, quality time with God.  I love starting my day having quiet time with Him, praying, reading, worshipping.  It is such a peaceful way to start the day and I always find that when I do that the day goes more smoothly for everyone, but it’s hard.  I try to make a rule of not starting on housework until I’ve had my time with God. I know that if I get started m

aking beds and sweeping floors and washing dishes, it would take nothing for ten minutes to turn into an hour, and one hour into three. Before I crack open my Bible, someone gets hungry, something spills and *surprise surprise* the kids are making the bathroom sink into a hot tub for their Super Mario toys (real life folks).  By the time all of those things are squared away, it’s time to start schoolwork with the big kids.  And then it’s lunchtime. And then there’s more to clean up.  And then…well you get the picture. No, if I get started on other things it’s likely that the day will slip by and I won’t get any quality time with God. And as important as those things are, it’s not what He wants.

What does He want? He wants me to sit. He doesn’t care what my home looks like, He cares that I want to spend time with Him. And so I practice. I practice sitting. When the beds are unmade and the breakfast dishes stacked up, I sit down. Sometimes I feel more antsy than a four year old during “sitting practice”, but I do it. And He never disappoints. He always has something to say to me. He always refreshes me. He takes the anxious feelings I have about everything that needs to get done and replaces them with peace, knowing that when I’ve made Him first everything else just falls into place.

He wants you to practice sitting.

When the house is a mess. Practice sitting.

When the deadline is approaching. Practice sitting.

When the phone is ringing or your inbox is full. Practice sitting.

When you’re wondering if your new post has any likes. Practice sitting.

When your favorite show is about to start. Practice sitting.

And when your kids are turning the bathroom sink into a hot tub? Stop them. And then practice sitting.