Always We Begin Again By Leeana TankersleySample

Day Three

Tending

Scripture: Exodus 14:14

When we’re locked up, anxious, overwhelmed, restless, it’s so difficult to do the small acts of each day. At least it is for me. Washing my face, watering the plants, folding laundry, chopping veggies for dinner . . . all feel impossible. 

Tending—the act of giving attention to someone or something—is an ongoing endeavor. Tending requires us to begin again and again by its very nature. It teaches us to reinvest, to get our hands back into our own lives, to care for something small or menial as an act of love and health. 

If you are swirling today, trying to figure out what big step you need to take next in your life, try to start small instead. Tend to something: drink water, take a walk, pull weeds or cut dead branches off your trees, fold a load of laundry, chop veggies, stir soup. 

When I am hustling and striving and trying to hold things together, tending is one of the last things on my list, because it requires me to let the moment fall open. But as I bring my worries and fears and control to God and give them back to him, tending feels more possible. I feel drawn to the raised bed in the yard, the brush and my daughter Lane’s wild mane, the prep for the chimichurri sauce, the potted bougainvillea. 

Tending reminds me that I am held. Mysteriously and benevolently, I am held.

I love the words from Exodus 14:14. Because sometimes being right where we are is the hardest work. Sometimes it takes more energy and discipline to “be still” than to spring into frantic action. That’s why it’s so important for us to meditate on the truth that God’s got us, he’s holding things together that we couldn’t possibly fix or control, he’s conspiring on our behalf. Our job is to give in to this held-ness instead of trying to squirm away so we can go prove how worthy we are. 

Reflection: What is one small thing you could do today to begin again? Notice your hands, your heart, the sounds and smells around you as you attend to this small thing. In what ways is God holding you right now?

Prayer: Thank you, God, that it’s never all up to me. Please help me to be still today, to sink back into your love and embrace. Amen.