It was drawing towards the end of the six week Christmas holidays. My children were aged three, four, ten and eleven at the time, and the house had echoed with childish noises for many days.
That’s fine and well for the most part of it, but on this particular day my ears were tired and I needed a rest. I could hear the kids calling out for me, but knowing more food wasn’t as urgent as they made it out to be, I closed myself in my room to take some much needed ‘me time’.
Me time—shmee time
Within a few minutes, my three year old—with her gorgeous cluster of ringlets circling the base of her head, bounced into my room and announced: “Mummy, da kids want you!”
“Well,” I replied, “you tell ‘da kids’ that Mummy just wants some peace and quiet.”
Her little eyes lit up and she bolted from my room almost excitedly—which I thought was strange. She then poised herself on our back deck, cupped her little hands around her mouth and at the top of her 3 year-old voice called out to the neighbourhood: “Eveybody! Mummy wants some pizza and choir!”
Not quite what I meant, but hey—that could work too. The excitement at this point required me to put aside my ‘quiet-time’ and head to the kitchen to see what food I could find—preferably in the form of pizza. The choir came from the back yard in the form of cheers when the food was brought out.
Jesus knows
I love love love that when we mums get tired, Jesus understands us. He knows well the demands of feeding his children.
Matthew chapter 14 tells us of John the Baptist’s death. On the news of this, Jesus needed some time to be by himself.
‘When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.’ (Matthew chapter 14 verse 13).
Before long, he was followed by crowds who were eager to be with him. Jesus had compassion on them, spoke to them, healed them and then fed them—five thousand of them! He took care of his ‘children’ who ate until they were satisfied.
Still needing rest, Jesus dismissed the crowd and sent the disciples on ahead, then went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. After a time of refreshment with his Father, he was then able to meet the disciples again as he walked to them on the water in the wee hours of the morning.
Recharge and refresh others
Recharging renews us so we can refresh others. Spending time with our Heavenly Father fills us, so that we are then able to help and look after those around us. We are wrapped up in these human bodies that fail us and get tired and weary, but our Father in Heaven knows just what we need, and we need to be still and spend time with him.
So take time to be revived. Fill yourself with the word, worship, and nourishment—food for the soul as well as the body. And if that comes in the form of pizza and choir—so be it.
Rebecca and her husband, have four children and live on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Rebecca writes for various publications including print, online and commercial. She has recently published her first book titled 'First to Forty' which is available on Amazon and Kindle.
Rebecca's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/rebecca-moore.html