Priorities

So, I'm getting started on writing this post really late tonight. The reason is that Quinn is having trouble settling down to sleep this evening. One of the things that is sometimes frustrating, but at other times freeing, about taking care of a baby, is the immediacy of her needs. When she's crying, there's no question about which of the competing demands on my time I will be attending to. As someone recently put it, "If Baby ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

So, she interrupts my life (our lives) a lot. But it's also a good reminder, because less important things can take up more time or attention simply by clamoring for it, or making it to the top of my to-do list. But the baby's needs are real and basic and must be met.

Attending to the spirit is also a real and basic need, but it's not nearly as loud (usually, anyway) as Quinn! That's why, I think, it's so much easier to focus spiritually in some kind of a setting (an intentional time or place or group of people) set aside for that purpose, with many of the competing demands cleared away. I cherish my retreats with the Bethany Fellows for that reason.

Also, however, at the same time that attending to my spirit might be considered another "task" or item on a to-do list that caring for Quinn takes time and energy from, and I certainly feel that the near-constant sleep deprivation makes both thinking and connecting more difficult, I also feel that caring for, feeding, comforting, cuddling, loving this little person, is feeding my spirit.