A Mommy Moment I Almost Missed

It was just Luke and me on the playground.

My older two boys had ventured with my husband to another area of the park, which left my six-year-old to his self-designed “Ninja Warrior Course” alone.

I sat on a park bench several feet above the play set. Watching his tiny body shimmy up and down poles and slides. With great care Luke placed his hand-me-down New Balance shoes in the designated climbing hole. Quite proud of his “record time”…

“Mommy are you watching?”

I had been. Over and over and over he ran through his imaginative obstacle course for time. My boys, all three, the next generation of America Ninja champions – mark my words.

But I confess, I had been watching — but not the entire time. My hand was full of Facebook and Safari and Gmail galore. Every few seconds looking down and reading up.

Sneaking, if you will, so my six-year-old didn’t notice my affection torn away by my iPhone.

Convicted I put it down. Shutting all Apps and my attention focused now on the fleeting reality of Sunday.

And in a moment, I’m talking a split-second, Luke popped his head around the jungle gym to make sure I was watching. His face beaming — desirable of my approval of his agility.

“I see ya buddy! Wow!!! You are so strong.”

Gasp.

I almost missed it.

I almost missed that look and his need for my nod. His need for my voice yelling across the park, YOU ARE SIGNIFICANT. I SEE YOU. I APPROVE OF YOU. I LOVE YOU.

The Lord spoke to me in that moment. Sitting on a wrought iron park bench on a cloudy Sunday.

He whispered to my heart… My eye is always on you.

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ear towards their cry. Psalm 34:15

My goodness and My mercy follow after you. You dwell in Me. And I in you. You are the apple of My eye, Becky. My ever-watching-eye. I never look away. (Psalm 23:6, Psalm 17:18)

And I would say the same of my kids. They are sooo the apple of my eye. But living distracted by the world while on the park bench does little to communicate this truth to them.

If I had missed that moment, I would have never known it. Luke wouldn’t have ran up to say, “Mommy, I peeped my head around the play set to make sure you were watching. I was so hopeful you were. But you weren’t. And that makes me feel less important than your phone.”

He wouldn’t have said that. He couldn’t have articulated those emotions. But he would have experienced them, nonetheless.

So I must remain intentionally in each moment. Or I will miss them. Those peeps around the play set – those little mommy-moments meant only for me. And I can’t afford to do that.

Safari is not worth it.

The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The Lord will keep you… your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 121:5,8

Do you struggle with distractions, too? Is it your phone? Or computer? Or housework? Maybe that book you can’t put down? Today join me as I take heed to the heart of the Lord, the Father whose eyes are ever towards us. He’s never away or distracted. We never need worry if we are significant to Him. Or more important.

There is no one He cares for more … than you.

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And we are also reading through the Gospel of John! Need structure? Join us!