Sometimes the best way to spend an afternoon is to take that noisy To-Do list with all its insistent demands and tuck it into the desk drawer. To back away from what needs to be done right now because one hundred weeks of right now’s add up to a life we really don’t want. Know what I mean?

And that’s just what I did the other day. An hour before the closing bell I strolled into the elementary school where Jude goes to school and whisked him away from all the pressures and stresses of his world. Away from the not very nice boy who always cuts in line. Away from math quizzes and spelling lists and laboriously boring penmanship practice. Away from the very real and very pressing responsibilities of a 7 year old man-in-the-making. First priority was a Very Berry milkshake from Burgerville— extra whipped cream please! He sipped and pulled and slurped his way to wholeness with all theatrics of a boy born with more charisma than a Hollywood actor.

(Jude and Sunday)

And then we just talked.

About his three best friends and his love of LEGOS and his brother and sister and “why don’t I try out some new game apps on my iPhone”, which he’d be glad to set up for me. I kept asking questions to prompt more. To watch his eyes sparkle and then squint and to catch a glimpse of the passionate man he will one day be. Someday he’ll sit across from me in a suit and tie, a briefcase by his side, his cell phone ringing with the urgency of right now. But not today. Today he’s all mine to know, to soak in, to study and relish and inhale. 

And even as he’s chattering away and asking me to “please come in and stay”, I keep wondering if this isn’t just what the Father wants more of from me. Just to listen to me talk about my world. Just to enjoy me for being me. To relish both the good and the not-so-good without the pressing urgency to fix it all right now.

Could it be that He just wants to soak me in and have me all to Himself sometimes? And could He be inviting you to spend the night in a grand non-sleeping slumber party with a bunch of other friends who want to talk to Him too? 

Friday night, March 1,  hundreds of women will gather in the Garage on the Westside and over at Sunset and Downtown to spend the Night in Prayer. The whole night.

Why don’t you consider and ask and listen to the Father and see if He wants you there? Because maybe it’s time to tuck that To-Do list in the drawer and just go and be with God.

If you’re a part of Solid Rock, we’ll be gathering March 1 at 11:59 pm until March 2 on the Westside and Downtown and at Sunset for our annual Women’s Night in Prayer.

Together we will sing: I love the LORD because He hears and answers My prayers. Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!  Psalm 116:1,2

Will you join us?

Click here to sign up any of the locations: http://www.ajesuschurch.org/

From my heart,

Diane