I am hassled, hurried and surrounded
by ‘should do’s
and ‘could do’s
and probably ‘ought to do’s.
My ‘mother’ voice is strained and sharp
I command
and bark
instead of asking politely
the very thing I scold my children for.
And as I feel the tension rise
somehow I am aware
that even this moment’s worth of worries
won’t make my days flow smoother.
And once upon a time
someone reminded me
that I was worried and concerned about many things
but only one thing was needed. 

One thing. 

So I choose to choose, 
against my natural instinct,
to stop and sit.
I’ll let the dinner grow a little cold,
live in a house with too many toy cars,
take a deep breath,
answer slowly,
apologise quickly
and do the one thing that is needed:
to find that mental space in which
I can sit at His feet
and draw my hurrying, wiggling, complaining, stroppy, beautiful children
onto my figurative lap
to do the same. 

Penny