Rejoining The Divine Conversation

This evening I "babysat" for the children I nanny for during the week so mom and dad could go out to dinner alone. I've done this before, but it has been a while. It was odd to show up as the children were eating dinner versus breakfast.

As the mom and dad were leaving they told big sister to 'help Mary.' She nodded, looked at me and asked, "Do you know which bed the boys sleep in?" The adults all chuckled a little because I've been caring for the children for almost 2 years and they have been in their current house (with current sleeping arrangements) for a little less than 2 years. Her mom suggested she may want to help me figure out the toothbrushes at bedtime and she was pleased to have that responsibility.

Sister was disoriented because they most often have a "real" babysitter on the rare weekend evenings her mom and dad go out. The babysitters might not know which bed belonged to which boy (except for the fact that they now have their names hanging over their beds). Mary comes during the day and knows how everything works in the day time (and even has the same rules as mom) but not at night. All of her points of reference were out of whack.

Mine get out of whack sometimes too. If I have not been intentional about my prayer life and/or I don't make a point to spend time in bible study I can get off track as well. It's so easy to get out of those habits if we miss one opportunity. The next time, it becomes a little less pressing, then before long, we realize it's been days (weeks? ) since we spent time with God.

When we realize that, we usually also realize why our life has been so out of sync. Fortunately, God welcomes us back into the divine conversation with gladness and rejoicing.

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. [Joshua 1:7 NIV]

Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. [Proverbs 4:26-27 NIV]