A Sandbox Moment

What is a Sandbox Moment?

Today I suppose I am officially a blogger.  I find myself here looking for a place to share our world in the hope that I may in some small way help someone who is struggling inside a life they feel completely unprepared to live. 

We live there too…in a world much different from everyone around us. It’s a world where chaos resides…its unpredictable and confusing and terrifying and so very, very busy and so very, very loud.

In the midst of the swirling chaos of each day I find myself constantly seeking quiet... I anticipate it…I hope for it.  I yearn for a moment just to take a deep breath and be still. However, most often this silence eludes me.

When these rare moments present themselves in the middle of an ordinary day…they shock me.  The hush of the silence in the midst of all the noise can be just as deafening as the constant hum of our life. However, without the chaos the calm that follows it would not be so profound.

Our sweet Scotty is the source of most of the noise and much of the chaos that has become the soundtrack of our lives.  Ironically, it is through this whirling, uncontainable, exhausting boy that I am also provided most of my moments of quietness and contentment.

Many years ago while waiting for my youngest daughter Sarah to finish her voice lesson, I sat on a bench in the playground behind the church and watched Scotty sit in the sandbox and contentedly sift sand through his fingers for almost an hour.

This was the end of a very challenging day… a day filled with a million chores, tasks and details that normally consumed my days. 

As I watched him sitting still for the first time all day I pulled out my notepad and began writing a grocery list and organizing all the things that needed to be done. Glancing at the sandbox again I was struck by the quiet intensity and complete absorption on his face as he watched the sand stream through his fingers over and over again.

This boy who is in constant motion and in need of constant attention was still and calm as the grains of sand sifted through his fingers.  I thought to myself, if he can find a moment to be still in the midst of whatever chaos goes on inside of him then so can I.

A Sandbox Moment...

That day in his quiet and solitude I found mine.  A moment when the world slowed down enough and the noise stopped for just a little while and allowed us both to pause and just breathe.

A time to be still…and for me a time to be grateful.

This blog will be a collection of my “sandbox moments,” times when the quiet rolls in and allows me to put two sentences together.