The Interruptions

Barbara Jurgensen writes about a busy time in her life. She was feeling it — the gap between the life she was living and the life she wanted to live. Her days were so full, so fragmented, that a deeper Christian life felt perpetually out of reach. So one night she did something simple. She asked God to help her live more faithfully. Starting tomorrow.

The next morning, before she was even out of bed, the phone rang. Her next-door neighbor had a terrible toothache. The dentist could see her right away, but her little boy was home sick. Could Barbara help?

She got up, got dressed, walked next door, made the child his breakfast, and stayed with him until his mother returned. That was the morning.

After lunch, a friend showed up at the door — someone who had been struggling with depression, going through a very hard stretch. She had a couple of dresses she wanted to shorten. Could they work on them together? They spent most of the afternoon side by side.

Near supper, her husband came home and mentioned — a little tentatively — that he'd invited two people to dinner. A couple he'd just met. The husband had a prison record and was having trouble finding work. I hope that's okay, he said.

It was okay.

By bedtime, Barbara lay there wondering. So much had happened. So many interruptions. Where, in all of that, had there been any time for God?

And then it dawned on her. God had been there all along. In every single interruption.

We tend to think of the spiritual life as something we carve out — a quiet moment, a dedicated practice, a time set apart. And those things matter. They lay a foundation. But the life God calls most of us to is not a cloistered life. It is a life lived in the middle of things. Busy, messy, interrupted.

And it turns out, the interruptions are often the invitation.

The neighbor with the toothache. The neighbor at the door. The awkward dinner guest. These are not obstacles to living faithfully. They are what living faithfully actually looks like.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see. Help us to notice you in the interruptions — in the unexpected phone call, the neighbor in need, the person who shows up at the wrong moment. Give us eyes to recognize the opportunities you place in front of us, and hearts willing to say yes. Amen.