My angel daughter grabs my omelet with both fists and hangs it from her little brother. Within seconds, milk is everywhere. Plates crash to the floor. Hollering ensues: the kind that peels paint from walls. I stand quickly to resolve the situation, banging my left knee hard on the underside of the table. Clutching at the wound, I accidentally smack my knuckles on the sharp table edge
The screaming is louder now. More omelet is being distributed. The phone rings. It is a telemarketer. I hang up on him. The phone rings again. I pick it up and yell, “We're having breakfast alright? Call back in 2012!” It is my mother-in-law this time.
“Will you come over for lunch?” she asks.
“We'll be there in an hour,” I promise, apologizing profusely: “Keep me in the will…please?”
The car we own is a recent upgrade. The doorjamb is lower than I am used to. Climbing in, I smack it hard with my eyebrows. This is the funniest thing the kids have seen since the Roadrunner did in the Coyote. They are pinching each other with delight. I can see them in the rearview — despite the swelling.
“How much farther?” says four-year-old Stephen. “I gotta go.” We are five miles out of town and nearing the crest of a hill. Suddenly, the tape machine dies. So does the engine. The power steering ceases to function too. I bang the steering wheel with my sore knuckles as we coast to a halt. “Dog biscuits! Engine trouble!”
“It's the gas thingee,” says Stephen. “I was watchin' it.”
“Daddy,” he asks, “Where's the gas station?”
Good question. One I'd been asking myself lately. Perhaps you've asked it too. Where does a tired parent go when you're running on empty? When you badly need a jump-start, an oil change and a tune-up? When the one-minute devotional is too long? When you fall asleep on the treadmill and hit the wall hard? Here are three simple keys to help you find the missing peace:
1. Learn to walk. When my son was in first grade I believed the most important thing on earth was my job. One night my son watched me work. He said, “What you working on?” I told him. He asked, “Why?” I patiently explained that I had so much to do that there weren't enough hours in the day. He squinted at me and said, “They should put you in a slower group.” Micah 6:8 is the perfect verse for parents who need a slower group. It says, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
2. Seize the evenings. Whenever possible, keep your schedule free after dinner. Our children are teenagers now and I'm convinced our relationship with them is strong in part because we often said no to the demands of others — so we could take delight in them.
3. Take time to pray. When Jesus was inundated by a thousand demands, He often took time out to pray. So go where Jesus went: to the Father. There is no better place to find peace, power and purpose for living. When I was tempted to stray far from God, I could not erase from my mind the memory of my mother praying for me. God answered those prayers. He will answer yours too. He will fill your tank with courage, strength, and hope as you walk with Him.
