Always Be Ready to Quit

Grow Barefoot is happy to welcome guest blogger Jennifer Slattery.  It's interesting to read her article and see God teaching her some of the same stuff He's been teaching me the past couple of months.  "Let go of the stress and trust Me..."

Sometimes I think my laundry basket has the whole Elijah thing going on—like with the widow who never ran out of flour. Most days my home runs like a fast-paced assembly line. Wake up, make the bed, clean the kitchen, answer the phone, take my daughter to school, fold laundry, mop the floor, pick my daughter up from school, go to bed, wake up, make the bed… It’s like a never-ending cycle that drags me from one task to the next like a wayward waif clinging to a steadily moving conveyer belt. And each day before I pull myself out of bed, I make a promise—to myself and to God. Today I will find time to pray.

But then the day begins, and laundry must be folded, lunches must be made, and dishes must be washed.

But what would happen if I quit…for a day? What if I put my to-do list aside, turned off my cell phone, unplugged my land line, and shut down my computer? What if I set everything aside to rest and be refreshed by God’s presence? Perhaps my house would not be as tidy as I would like, and maybe left-overs would grace our table more frequently, but along with the dirty dishes and micro-waved meals, my family would get a much happier, calmer me. And I suspect, if I were to ask them which they preferred--an immaculate home and crabby mommy or a little bit of clutter with much joy--I am sure they would choose the latter.

Jennifer Slattery lives in the Midwest with her husband of sixteen years and their fourteen year old daughter. She writes for Christ to the World Ministries, The Christian Pulse, the Internet Café Devotions, Jewels of Encouragement, and co-hosts (with five other authors) a Facebook faith community called Living by Grace. Find out more about her and her writing at http://jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com/.