Letting Me Slump

"Robin, come here for a second."

From where I stood at the kitchen sink, I put the final dish away, dried my hands on a dish towel, and came into the family room.

"Look at her," Joel said, gesturing to Kerrington. "She's slumped into me."


And she was. Now, Kerrington does many things -- she runs, she clomps around while wearing her older sisters' shoes, she shimmies up and down our steps at an alarming rate, and when she's tired, she snuggles. But, she doesn't often slump.  One deep look into her eyes and you could see it:


The poor peanut wasn't feeling well.


Moments later her slump upgraded into an outright sprawl, and she dozed on Joel's chest, her small body rising up and down with each congested breath, relegating Joel to this exact position for nearly an hour until he got a crick in his back for remaining still for so long.

Loving arms are a safe place to be when you're not feeling well.

Days later I had finished my grading for the night and was folding clothes in the bedroom when Joel came home from campus.  It was late.  The girls already had been asleep for several hours.  Although the quietness over the house should have been calming, I was unsettled, agitated, wound tightly, spent.

I stacked the clothes into the basket, we sat down together, and I talked.  I talked about the pressures of juggling the demands of work, the constancy of kids, the encroaching writing deadlines that keep getting put on the back burner, the incessant cleaning and laundry and clutter, and the other miscellany life stuff that always crops up.

My talking was disjointed, punctuated by moments when I interrupted myself with a new tangent, marked by tears, and entirely emotional, but it revolved around one central theme: I can't do this all. Joel simply listened and then prayed for me, letting me lean my head into his chest, letting my tears make a wet spot on his shirt.

He let me slump.

Loving arms are a safe place to be when you're not feeling well.

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6 comments

  1. I had a day like that yesterday too. I am so thankful for my husbands arms to slump in. Ans ohh so thankful (you might be too) that the semester is almost over!

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  2. I think we've all been there, no? Thank goodness for someone to slup against, but even more so, for someone to pray with while slumping. I hope today is better.

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  3. I love this post. We all need this post!

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  4. Great post! I loved it.

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  5. Kerri SimmetDecember 08, 2011

    This is a perfect illustration of God's love... When I am sad, tired, lonely and hurting, I can imagine when I close my eyes in worship that he cradles me in His loving arms...I can see how He provided me with the most loving earthly Father who held me to his chest when I was in pain (and at 42 I am still his "little girl") and I can also relate to those moments that I just need to be held, understood and loved by the Godly man that Jesus prepared me for and that I need him so very very much. Thank you for sharing your life with me, as I can so relate and love you for your honesty. Its not about if you can "do it all". Robin you are doing everything that God has seasoned you for. He has great plans for your life. God Bless you.

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  6. Thank you for this post. I read it after a tough day...sick baby, husband working late, chores piling up...also feeling like I couldn't "do it all". A wonderful reminder to slump in loving arms and to say a prayer.

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