learning from Susannah

In my never-ending quest to find adequate time for prayer and personal devotions, my mind often wanders back to Susannah Wesley. I've often heard the story of how in the midst of her day, when she needed to pray, she would pull her apron over her head, a signal for her children to not disturb her as she prayed. Today I thought I would try an experiment. I have a lovely red scarf that I brought out and showed my kids. I asked them what this red reminded them of. OK, being a kind of odd question for me to ask out of the blue, and them being PK's, they answered "Jesus blood". (They figured I had to be going somewhere with this...) So I tried to steer them in a different direction...I said, think about if we are driving; what does red mean? They got it right away "Stop!" "Exactly!" I said. I proceeded to explain to them that I was going to use this scarf as a signal for them; when I needed some time with God, to pray or read my Bible, I was going to put on this scarf and that should tell them, "stop", to not (unless it's an emergency) interrupt me, and that I'd be available again soon. They actually thought it was a great idea (I guess it seems like a fun game...like 'Simon Says'). Later this afternoon I did retreat to my room to steal a couple minutes of much-needed prayer time, and threw the scarf on. Two of them came in, saw the signal, and quietly left the room. Amazing!!

I went tonight and read a bit more about Susannah...pretty amazing lady, especially for her time. I felt a connection...after all, she was a pastor's wife, who homeschooled, was very fiesty and opinionated, and - occasionally - preached a few sermons herself! I think I'll keep reading and looking for more inspiration from this lady...