Charis Corner: Stories of Grace in a Broken World
Holiday Piece I
If there’s one
thing I struggle with as a mom of young children, it’s taking care of myself.
My mom is
amazing. She can watch all the kids, feed them and herself, clean the house,
and still have dinner made on time. I do not have that same superhero power. I
get the kids dressed, fed, play, and the next thing I know it’s time to make
lunch. Though my kids don’t nap, I still have them go to their bedrooms for
quiet time. By the time this is all said and done, it’s one…sometimes two
o’clock before I get to feed myself.
What do I do
then? Do I take the time to fix myself something healthy? No, I grab the
fastest, tastiest thing I can find. At this point, I’ve starved myself so much,
even junk tastes good.
How often do we
starve ourselves—not with food but the Lord? And what do we want want to do when we finally get a moment to ourselves? We stuff ourselves with junk--Netflix, Hulu, movies, bags of chips, pints of ice cream, Snicker's bars, or Facebook.
We starve ourselves--and exhaust every moment of every day--that when we finally have a spare moment, we crave junk. It tastes good. But it never satisfies.
In our spiritual lives, we start the day
with a quick cup of coffee and a pastry—a quick scan of a devotional or Bible
verse and a prayer. Then we go about our day with no other sustenance. We
wonder why we’re irritable and frustrated. How are we supposed to deal with stupid
people when we’ve starved ourselves?
I don’t know
about you, but I suffer from a condition others call “hangry”—so hungry I
become irrationally and uncontrollably angry. I’m completely serious.
Throughout these past five years as a parent, I’ve learned I cannot function in
a loving and compassionate manner if I’ve starved myself. So now, I eat when
the kids eat. I must take care of myself, even if it results in a later quiet time.
So how can we
apply this to ourselves? How can we make sure we get what we need spiritually
especially when we’re so busy we can’t care for ourselves?
We take breaks.
This will look different for each person, each profession, and how we spend
that time will look different, because God communes with each person in their
own unique way. But without these breaks in our day to reconnect with God—our power
source and sustenance—we will starve ourselves, and we will not be able to
serve or love people the way you need to.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV):
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
