I am the mother of a four-year-old boy, a (soon-to-be) 3-year old girl, and a 1-year-old boy; my days are busy & loud. So every morning I set my alarm for 5 a.m., brew a pot of coffee, & bask in the silent peace of the morning.
As Elisabeth Elliot wrote of her late husband, Jim, "He began to get up early in the morning...to read the Bible and pray.... He was realistic enough to recognize the slim chances of fitting in any serious study and prayer later in the day. If it had priority on his list of things that mattered, it had to have chronological priority...he began to note down on paper specific things he learned from the Word and specific things he asked for in prayer. "It is not written as a diary of my experiences or feelings," he recorded in his journal, "but as a 'book of remembrance' to enable me to ask definitely by forcing myself to put yearnings into words."
So, as I lay out my pink leather "book of remembrance," each morning, I am giving chronological priority to the thing which matters most in my life, as well as beginning my day with a bit of peace which I sometimes long for throughout the day.
However, the stillness of the morning is not so much interrupted by, than accompanied by, the soft pitter-patter of my daughter's feet, at about the time my coffee is poured, & sweetened to perfection.
My daughter is no-doubt a morning person. I have said, on more than one occasion, that you get the best of Ellie first thing in the morning. Her eyes are the sparkliest, her cheeks are the rosiest, and her disposition the sweetest, not only of herself throughout the day, but of anyone I have ever known.
She never utters the first word, as if knowing this is a special time for me, she just quickly ascends the empty stool beside me. Only after I have given her the appropriate affection and ask her if she slept well, she requests paper and a pen, and smiles at me, as if we shall be silent co-conspirators. I remind her to keep quiet & let her know that this is "momma's special quiet time." I do not explicitly tell her I'd rather be alone, yet at times, I sense that she knows I would rather be without her for the moment. How does one begin to explain Luke 10:27 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind..." before the eyes of a child who cannot see God?
Well, it just so happens, that some of the wisest literature is found in the pages of a children's book, so that we can read it together, and learn in mutuality (talk about an All-Wise God!). I was reading Arnold Lobel's Days With Frog and Toad to all 3 of my kiddos, my stomach was in just as much of a knot as Toad's, over why Frog would leave a note on the door that said,
"Dear Toad, I am not at home... I want to be alone."
Of course poor Toad imagines that Frog doesn't want to be his friend anymore for all the dumb things he does & silly things he says. I had imagined the outcome of this story was going to be some moralistic tale in which we need to apologize & be more careful of one another's feelings. However, I was pleasantly surprised, that that was not the case, and even further surprised to find that I could apply Frog's response to my own life! After Toad gives Frog some lunch so that he, "would be happy." Frog says, "But Toad, I am happy. I am very happy. This morning when I woke up I felt good because the sun was shining. I felt good because I was a frog. And I felt good because I have you for a friend. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about how fine everything is."
As I closed the book, I looked at Ellie & said, that's how momma feels early in the morning. I am happy. I feel good that God made me. I feel good that I have you & your brothers as my kids. I like to think about how fine everything is AND thank God for it. :)
