It’s the season of running outside and running inside. Every four hours I find myself slipping on my boots and coat and dashing out to the barn. We’ve got bottle kids out there, and they let me know they are hungry. I’m armed with two bottles and am greeted with four hungry mouths.
I can feed them one at a time by holding one in one arm and the bottle in another. Or I can separate the babies into pairs and feed two at a time. They’re two weeks old now, but their appetite will increase and I’ll need to bring more bottles.
There’s also kids inside, my children who need me even more than little goats. We have schoolwork to do, and myriads of chores. Baths, laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and so on… oh and they like to eat too.
And so each day is a dance of inside, outside, inside, and outside again. Tending to needs and there’s much to do, even stalls to clean out and diapers to change.
There is inside and outside of the house, but in reality they are all outside. Because the place most easily forgotten to tend is the inside of me and those I love. Little moments spent in prayer. Little connections of looking into a child’s eyes as they explain what they love most about a certain pop-up art technique. Noticing the helpful things a child does. Encouraging a child who can’t figure out a problem. Laughing together over books.
There’s a rhythm to all the madness, but I find it a little less maddening when I tend to the most important things first. Connecting with God, studying scriptures, and a bit of yoga. I find it doesn’t have to be long. But it feels so good to care for the inside.
And then I’m ready to dash outside again.
