He Finds Me.

My quiet time isn’t always quiet and my prayer time isn’t always on my knees. Often, I find myself spending church services in the foyer wrangling toddlers instead of taking notes like I used. My relationship with Jesus looks different than it did before my girls were born, and if I’m not careful, I’ll make it more about checking one more thing off my to do list.

I let it feel rushed. I let it feel like a chore. In checking off the boxes I relieve the guilt of “being a good christian” without actually trying to grow closer to Christ. I feel like I have to do it, but I’m not sure that it is enough when it doesn’t look like the insta-worthy moments I see on others’ pages.

To be honest, however, I find I need Jesus in more places than my kitchen table with my worship music at the right volume and my highlighters neatly arranged by my Bible. I need Him in the grocery store, rushing through the aisles. I need Him in the car. I need Him in my living room, looking for wisdom in teaching my girls. I need Him as I wash the dishes and prep dinner, when I scrub the toilets and mop the floor. I need Him so many places and in so many ways, and I need more than just to check off the box. I need His presence.

So I guess it’s a good thing that Jesus has a habit of meeting people where they are. He met Zaccheus in a tree, the woman at the well, Nicodemus in the middle of the night, and Peter in a boat. He wanted a relationship with them, and He was less concerned with it being picture perfect and more concerned with making sure they knew He was there for them.

He still does the same today. He meets mamas in the business of breakfasts served before school. He meets us in the late night clean ups after the kiddos are in bed and the house is still. He meets us with toddlers at our feet and babies in our arms. He meets us in the weary moments and the joyful ones. He meets us when the prayers are cried in quiet rooms and when they’re whispered with hands full of clothes to fold. He comes to where we are when we feel like the circumstances are less than ideal and teaches us as much in those moments as He does in the more “ideal” ones.

I can come to Jesus in those picture perfect moments, and I know He’ll be there, but I’m so thankful that He comes to me, too, wherever I find myself and whenever I need Him.