Tuesday, my turn to put the baby to bed. It’s only 6:47pm so I plop down on my bed and start typing. Finally, I have time to write. But then I hear it, the faint moans of my five-month baby.
Great, I never have time to write.
I walk to the nursery and I’m greeted with his big smile and happy dance. He kicks his legs, squirms back and forth, and squeals.
He's definitely not tired...
I decide to do all the tricks in the book to get him back asleep. I put him in his sleep sack, rock side to side, and slowly lay him down.
Right as I turn the knob, I hear his familiar cries.
Time for Plan B; "create on the go." I walk downstairs, grab my water, and put on my slippers. I open the door and am greeted by a gush of wind. I squeeze the baby into the stroller and start walking. This wasn’t my original plan, but it felt good. I was creating in the margin, with my baby.
The world whispers that mothers have no space to create. That we don’t have the time, energy, or ability. But we don’t have to wallow in discouragement. We were created for a good purpose and we can create for a good purpose.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” It’s so easy to forget this. To forget that we’re image bearers, and that we too have the privilege of creating and doing good work. Sometimes that good work is putting a baby to bed. Sometimes it's creating. Sometimes it's both.
We can’t control how much margin we have, but we can control how we use it. We can be good stewards of our creative endeavors, even if it's alongside our children. We can walk with them. We can grow with them.
Even when life doesn't provide much margin to create, we can still choose to use the time we have. We can choose Plan B. We can take our babies along with us. We can model creating in the margins.
This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Create Anyway". #exhalebloghop #motherhood #faith
