When You Think You Have a Busy Monday Ahead

Mondays are a busy day for me.  I work Monday evenings and I run kids to piano in the early afternoon.  I like to start the week off on the right foot homeschooling, not cutting corners or letting anything slide.  I wake determined.  Breakfast on time.  School on time.  Piano on time.  Work on time.  I start the day purposeful and intent, one eye on the clock, because today is busy and important.

And then I read the news this morning.  This.  Iraqi, Kurdish and U.S. forces take on Mosul.  A mess that has spanned years as the Islamic State took over Mosul in 2014.  A mess that has spanned decades as Iraqis have fought to maintain control.  A mess, I learn as I study the historical timeline with my children, that has spanned centuries.  Mosul is the present day location of Nineveh, friends.  That’s right, Jonah’s Nineveh.  In my mind it almost feels like the same battle.  All overlapping and interconnecting, the same. This mess of hardened hearts, blind eyes, has spanned millennia.

But this morning I pause and wonder what life is like for a mother over there right now.  It is estimated over a million civilians are trapped in Mosul.  Granted, another million have escaped during the last few years, but there are so many still there.  Families.  Moms, children.

And I wonder.  Why?  Why haven’t they left?  Why would they stay?  Was it out of fear?  Was it out of obedience to their husbands?  Was it out of lack of a place to go?

I have more questions than answers.  But I know this.

While I struggle to keep my kids focused on their school work today, some mother is explaining to her child why they are huddled and hiding inside their home.

While I may spend my afternoon with a cranky 4 year old who stayed up past his bedtime last night and has no hope of a nap today, somewhere in the world a mother is trying to play brave and dry the tears of her terrified children who can’t sleep through the sound of gunfire.

While I bemoan the state of our political system, the upcoming election, the lack of what I feel are equitable choices, some mother is feeling completely hopeless, choice-less, fighting for the lives of her children and sick over the fact that some tyrant might tare down her door at any minute and use one of her children as a human shield.

Yes, I have a busy day here.  Lots to do.  Important stuff.

 

 

Even when it horrifies us, the news isn’t meant to terrify us.

But we should be aware.  Perspective is important.  We have so much to be thankful for here.  Please.  Let’s not take it for granted today.  The opportunity, the freedom, the peace.  Can we please press pause and give thanks?

And in that moment can we offer our earnest prayers for that mom?  The wife of that soldier fighting? The terrified child who has never really known anything better?  We don’t have to understand the complexities to relate to that kind of hard.  Pain translates, fear translates.

There is a God who sees, a God who knows, a God who is always good.  Can we pause our cozy little busy today and seek Him on behalf of the broken, the scared and the hurting this morning?

What if stopping, in our comfort, and truly resonating with someone else’s pain is the bravest thing we could possibly do today?  What if believing God for someone curled up and crying out on the other side of the world was the bravest thing we did in our 72 degree homes or offices today?  What if we saw our own challenges, our own important, in light of those who might be fighting for their lives, the lives of their children, today?

Perspective is important.  Prayer is important.  Gratitude is important.  Let’s practice that on this busy Monday.  Bravely.