A Distraction

Yesterday morning, I woke up early and decided it was finally time to clean the floors in my house. With a month in New York City, long work hours, Christmas projects taking over, and just life, they had been neglected for a while. Not because I didn’t care, but because there was only so much energy to give when life keeps moving.

The furniture was moved and every corner swept, and in the process the canister was packed multiple times; physical proof of how long the floors had been ignored.

When the sweeping was finished, I pulled the floor cleaner out of the closet to clean the floors more thoroughly. The pieces were put together, but when it came time to attach the part where the dirty water goes, it would not fit. Several attempts were made, even trying to force it. When I finally stopped and looked closely, it became clear that a small filter piece was missing.

It is not a big piece, maybe two inches by one inch tall, but it is essential because it allows the canister to attach to the vaccum. Without it, nothing would work. The search began for where it might have been placed and with my personality, that meant it could be anywhere or nowhere. Drawers were checked, along with the space under the kitchen sink, which quickly turned into cleaning and organizing that cabinet. The cabinets above the sink was next, the piece was not there either, but things were out of place, so they were cleaned and reorganized as well. Other parts of the house were searched and straightened too. Once the distraction started, there was no going back.

After spending far more time cleaning other things than actually searching for the missing piece and finishing what had been started, I decided to put the cleaner away in the bathroom closet where it belongs, the energy I had started with was had run out, and it was time to start work. As the cleaner was set down, something on the floor caught my attention. The missing piece was sitting right where the cleaner had been pulled out earlier. I had looked there at the beginning, but somehow missed it, maybe because it was dark.

As the day went on, God kept bringing my attention back to how easily I had gotten distracted and could not stop thinking about it. Getting distracted is not new for me. With my ADHD brain, it happens often, and there is a constant need to refocus and work hard to stay present with what is right in front of me.

But as I reflected on the morning, it felt like God was speaking directly to my heart, showing me something I needed to hear in my spirit. “Faith, there are times when you start your morning wanting to spend time with Me, fully intending to sit, slow down, and be present. But then something else slowly pulls your attention away. It might be something you notice, your phone, a person, social media, or a task that feels urgent in the moment. One thing quietly leads to another until, before you realize it, you have done everything except the one thing you meant to do. Spending time with Me.”

See what pulls me away often feels small and harmless at first, almost unnoticeable. The day slowly fills up, and before I realize it, have moved on without ever really spending time soaking in His Word, praying, or sitting quietly in His presence.

Sitting with all of this, it became clear what God was gently revealing. It was not about the floors or the missing piece, but about how easily attention drifts and how quickly time with Him can slip away if it is not guarded. Those distractions may feel small and harmless in the moment, yet they quietly add up, allowing the day to move forward without ever coming back to Him. Time with Him does not disappear because we do not care, but because it is not always protected. The day does not steal it all at once. It slips away piece by piece, until many things are done, yet the one thing the heart needed most is missed.