praying for presence of mind

On a rare grocery shopping trip alone yesterday while Livia was in preschool, I found myself in the baking aisle for the second time (that's how you know for sure I was alone - no time to double back around in any aisle when I've got helpers with me :)) and the white chocolate chips caught my eye. They triggered something - and I wondered to myself why they did? And then it hit me... because I had volunteered to bake double chocolate chip cookies for the school fundraiser next week.

When would I have remembered that, I asked myself, had those white chocolate chips not caught my eye in the store? It was not on any of my lists, not in any of my mental boxes... I had just signed the sheet and promptly forgotten about it.

Those are the moments when I know it is God and I just thank Him for giving me presence of mind in that moment. I even pray for presence of mind sometimes, especially when we are in hard, intense seasons and all the balls seem apt to be dropped at any moment. I pray that God would keep present in my mind everything that needs to be prioritized, and that I would not let people down or wind up in a disastrous spot. I pray that God would nudge me when I need to offer something to someone, or when I need to dig deeper into a tough situation, or when I need to be aware of something that my children might be facing that I am unaware of. I pray that He would bring the right conversations at the right times, and that He would give me eyes and ears to be aware of what is around me.

In the end, I think praying for presence of mind is one of the most stress-relieving things I do. God has proven Himself so many times that it is a prayer He is faithful to answer for me. I still miss deadlines, drop things, mess things up, and move inefficiently a lot. But praying for presence of mind invites Him closer to me, involves Him in all that I do, and deeply acknowledges my limited humanity and His infinite deity. It is for sure a prayer that has made me fall more deeply in love with my Father, knowing that He is for me and not against me.