Beautiful Chaos

By Charlotte Phillips

Recently, I was sitting in our boys’ room waiting for our littlest one to fall back to sleep. As I sat there struggling to keep my own eyes opened, I started thinking to myself, “It is almost as though our lives got super busy as quickly as things came to a halt in March 2020. When will we get a minute to rest and recharge?!”

Feeling very tired and a little overwhelmed, I started scrolling on social media to keep myself awake. One of my friends posted photos of her daughter, talking about the busyness of life. But her next sentence stopped me in my tracks. “But the silver lining is this … I prayed for this … all of this.”

In that moment, I couldn’t help but feel immense gratitude. A beautiful silver lining indeed, I thought as I thanked God for my family and all the beautiful chaos it brings to my life. I had prayed for this, all of this. I prayed to God for a big, beautiful family full of children. I prayed to God for a job that allowed me to work and be actively present in our kid’s lives. I prayed to God for a husband who also wanted to be a hands-on parent.

I am so thankful that our children love ballet, football, gymnastics, soccer and piano, even if that means every evening is filled with balancing practices, homework and family dinners. And, I am thankful that God made his presence known in a social media post in the midst of the beautiful chaos of my life.