I had a very busy day ahead of me. I woke up early to spend some time hearing God by reading His word, and talking to Him in prayer. I was up before the children and had started getting things done, but I still felt like I was falling behind, and I was overwhelmed.

I had a group of people coming over that night for an essential oils class, and I had 2 events the next day–one at a shop in town and then another one at my house.

I had to get some printables made up and the supplies organized, but everywhere I looked, something else needed to be done. There was a pile of laundry that needed to be folded and put away, there were dishes in the sink and on the counters, the floors were a mess, and I won’t even mention the bathroom.

And of course there were still my children to take care of and their education to attend to.

I decided that the most efficient way of getting everything done would be to multi-task. Big mistake.

I usually sit down with my children during school time, so I can teach them and be right there to answer any questions. I find that this is how my children learn best, and it also allows us to get done with school quicker so that we can all work on the chores together, or at least I can send them outside to play while I handle the chores. But this day, I set them up with their lessons and proceeded to tackle the dishes that were threatening to take over my kitchen.

My son was working on his phonics and reading comprehension in his Explode the Code workbook (which we love!), and he couldn’t figure out what the word “swell” meant. He was supposed to answer the question, “Do you think your name is swell?” Instead of stopping what I was doing and helping him out, I told him over my shoulder to re-read the sentence and try to figure out what the word meant. He kept insisting he didn’t know, and I kept repeating that he needed to figure it out. Our exchange continued for a few minutes, with him getting increasingly whiny and upset, and me getting frustrated and raising my voice.

Finally I had had enough. I went to turn around from the sink, intending to yell for him to just take a guess already, when a ceramic bowl I had just washed leapt from the drying rack, shattering onto the floor into sharp little pieces. I threw my hands up in frustration, exclaiming “Now look what you made me do!” and sent my children to their room while I swept up.

I was furious. Why can’t he just take a guess! I’m too busy to stop and help him with every little thing!

And then I heard it. That still, small voice, gently leading my heart into the knowledge that this was all my fault. Not my son’s for needing help. I was his mommy and his teacher. It was my job to help him, and it was more important that the dishes right now. God had used a broken dish to get my attention. I only wish it wouldn’t have taken that for me to hear Him. I prayed right there, asking Him for forgiveness and to guide the rest of my steps that day, and for wisdom and patience to be the mommy that I needed to be.

I called my children back to the kitchen and gave my son a big hug and told him that we would figure out what “swell” meant together. So I started giving him examples:

“I think your hair is swell.”

“Ice-cream and pizza are swell.”

“It is swell when you clean your room without me having to ask you.”

Eventually he figured it out, and came to the conclusion that he did, in fact, think his name was swell.

I was hearing God through my housework that day. If you take the time to listen, He wants to talk with you and guide you. Have you ever heard God while you were working or going about your day? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

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