Dating

In honor of the 20 little children whose lives were taken 2 weeks ago, I dated my kids today.  Specifically Elyse.  This was an "event" of sorts coordinated and encouraged by our MOMS Club.

I committed to turning off my phone, not checking email or FB or any other distractions and I gave her the say in the day.  We played together alot this morning.  She chose getting frozen yogurt and going to a specific park this afternoon as the main event.  After a little downtime she chose a bike ride on her one of her new Christmas presents.

In between these "dates" I got more accomplished today than I would in a typical day.  With so much time devoted to her without distraction, she was content to entertain herself (and actually asked me to step out of her room more than once) for longer intervals than usual.  I completed a load of dishes, 3 loads of laundry, my workout video and now a blog post.  She's full.  So am I.  It feels nice.

I made note of a few things today.  I don't do as bad with intentional time as I thought I did.  This date day wasn't a far cry from a typical day, not at all.  It was shutting out the distractions that made the difference.  Not just mentally telling myself I'd do them later, but not allowing them as part of our date time at all.  I didn't miss any important texts, emails or FB posts, and not having my phone in hand prevented the repetetive checking of it......imagine that.  I'm connected to the cyber world for the sake of being connected, yet at the sacrifice of the connection to my children.

I also noticed she doesn't need a lot.  Not a whole day or even an entire afternoon.  She just needs me to connect with her when I can.  She wants her voice to be heard and in speaking, she wants to know I was listening.

It's a lot like that with God.  I've yearned to get the whole "quiet time" thing figured out.  I get sidetracked and intimidated easily feeling like I didn't do it long enough, right, or often enough.  Today helped me realize, just a little bit more, that He just wants me to be intentional with Him.  He doesn't need an entire day or a whole morning.  He wants me to connect, to share my concerns and to let His voice be heard.  It seems a lot less overwhelming already.  Faith like a child.