Sunday morning at church, I greeted a young mom with, “How was your week?”  She said that her morning had a bit of a rough start. 

She had been trying to get breakfast on the table.  Her newborn was yelling as only newborns can.  Her one-and-a-half-year-old was squawking, tugging on Mom’s clothes.  Daddy was in the shower.

“So, what did you do?” I asked, thinking of choices:  packing/leaving, putting the kids in a room and shutting the door, sitting down for a cry, banging on the bathroom door.

“Well, going for Tylenol wasn’t an option!  So, I took a deep breath and prayed.  Then, I decided to just listen to the symphony while I finished getting breakfast (so at least we would get something to eat).  After that, I’d take care of everybody’s needs.”

This is not a new theme.  Its variations are played daily.  (In my “baby” years, the “Unfinished Symphony” was my favourite—unfinished laundry, dishes…).  Still, in each one of our orchestras, the Lord is such a constant help (and He doesn’t wear earplugs!) that He can pick out our weakest cry during the daily discordant times—even during the cymbal crashes.

“Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy.”  Psalm 86:1