scatter brained

Hey friends!!

One of my foster siblings once complained to my mom that she was boring. Later, my mom later told me that it was one of her greatest compliments. I was mystified by that for a while. I didn’t understand how she perceived that as a compliment. My mom is a hard working & successful individual. She has mothered over a dozen children in the last 28 years. She owns her own quilting shop & works a part time job outside of that while being married & raising her 10-year-old. In my opinion, she isn’t boring. What is boring anyway?! In reality…a whole lot of life is boring. It’s the driving to work & cooking dinner & sleeping & cleaning the house. There’s a lot of daily joys too - time with family & friends, good food, pretty sunsets. And of course the big life celebrations too - weddings, new life, time with treasured people, great accomplishments that follow hard work. But there’s a balance, & a lot of days hold mundane, potentially perceived “boring” tasks.

When I asked my mama how she found being called boring a compliment; she told me it was because there was peace & security in the mundane.

So where should our hearts be in the boring? I find myself succumbing to discontentment in these moments. I like the big moments as most of us do. I allow fear & anxiety to creep in during slow or mundane moments.

I idolize busyness, finding myself accomplishing four or five tasks at once. Though multitasking isn’t a sin, finding pride in a fast paced schedule isn’t the best heart motive. There is humility & selflessness in the day to day life serving of others. There is a calm contentment in “boring”. My mom appreciated this comment because she knew she was meeting this foster child’s best interest when she needed calm & predictability.

I was at coffee with a mentor recently who asked why I struggle to do just one thing at a time. “When do you even have time to think or process or pray?” She had asked me graciously. Hmm convicting.

I always have a podcast going, or music playing, or video messaging a friend while I do other tasks or have slow moments in my days. Every moment is filled to the brim with people & responsibilities & interactions. In retrospect, my mind is always full, always busy, always striving for productivity. I find myself “scatter brained”. Dancing in so many different tasks, responsibilities, & relationships that I can hardly focus in the moment. I’m already needing to prepare or think about the next interaction or plan the next event or anxiously wonder if I am doing this all right.

Just some food for thought - here are some questions I am asking myself & maybe some of these apply to you, too :)

Am I slowing down to think, reflect on what the Lord has blessed me with today, the people around me?

Are my heart motives for hard work rooted in loving & serving others?

When my heart is anxious or I find a need to fill my brain simply to be busy, where should my heart be turning?

My simplest go to below :) I am still working on heart motives & learning every day - I hope you are open to growing & changing too.

The Word!! The Bible is true & everlasting. Christ is unchanging - immutable even. When your heart is anxious - turn to the Word!

Thanks for reading! Hope you lovely friends have some little joys moments in your day, & maybe even a big joy moment. You never know what the Lord has in store for you when you are serving Him.