Many parts of my day are automatic.

Get kids dressed. Dishes in the dishwasher. Make a peanut-butter & jelly sandwich. Change a diaper.

When I start these tasks my familiarity takes over and my mind can wander while I complete them. I don’t have to think through each step…untwist tie on bread, get out two slices, unscrew peanut-butter lid, spread peanut-butter with a knife. No, it’s an automatic task.

Another automatic task…going to the bathroom (yep I said it…)

What happens when that task takes place 30,000 miles above the ground…in a tiny space… while the bathroom is shaking? That automatic task requires severe concentration (particularly if you are pregnant & your center of gravity is shifted).

You steady yourself. You grip the handle. You concentrate.  

Same is true with our lives as moms. The day can be going so smoothly and our automatic tasks are cranking along. Then the turbulence hits…

  • a sick toddler cries and begs to be held
  • siblings argue over one toy in the sea of thousands
  • a friend needs advice
  • the car won’t start

Or even bigger turbulence…

  • our husband loses his job
  • a parent is diagnosed with cancer

Suddenly even the automatic tasks require concentration. Stress builds and we are trying not to fall flat on our face.

In our own efforts we try to keep everything together. 

What happens when we tightly grip His hand and rest in His strength when our ground is shaking? Stability and peace found in a Person not a place or circumstances (Ann Voskamp).

I don’t know what turbulence is ahead of you as you attempt to complete the tasks of your day. My prayer is that we can tightly grip our Father’s hand. I pray that we can stand firm in Truth and take our minds captive with His Word.

{Isaiah 40:28-31}  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,   the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint,  and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;   they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;   they shall walk and not faint.

{Isaiah 41:10}  fear not, for I am with you;  be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

{Psalm 18:32-34} the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer  and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.