I came across a little two line poem recently that gave a profound thought which could help some exhausted mothers of younger children. It read:
Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing,
Is like shoveling snow while it’s still snowing.
I like that little word picture because it captures what frustrates so many of us with young children. Even if we train them to be obedient, responsible and pick up after themselves, children are still children and part of being a child is making messes.
When we as parents put so much time and effort into creating a picture perfect house, that we no longer enjoy our children, we’ve taken on some misplaced priorities.
Let’s ask God today to give us the right focus. When the snow stops, there’ll be time for shoveling. Then we can get the sidewalk as clean as we like. But if still you have little ones at home, enjoy the snowfall. It will help you redeem the time.
Rick Grubbs is best known as the host of “Redeeming the Time,” a one-minute radio program featured on hundreds of radio outlets around the world. He has spoken thousands of times on Biblical time management in all 50 states and 26 other countries. He is the author of the book “Morning Momentum: God’s plan for launching an unstoppable day”. He and his wife Carrie live in Salisbury NC with several of their 12 children.
