Don’t Run Over Your Shadows!

How many shadows do you have?
Today Dad had taken the older children to work at a different location, so two toddler-sized shadows trailed my every move as I buzzed about my housework.
While striding through the kitchen, a clean pan and lid on the counter were noted. “Oh, I will just put those away on my way through,” I thought to myself.
Lid in the left hand, frying pan in my right, I quickly turned toward the pan cupboard, unwittingly knocking my waist-level, 3-yr-old shadow right in the head with the pan.
“Ouch!” She yelped in great surprise, rubbing the instant red circle on her temple.
I gasped. Where had she come from? Bending and turning to comfort the assaulted victim, the lid in my left land smacked into the forehead of my other forgotten shadow, sending him staggering backwards.
I gasped again.
Now everyone was crying. Feeling a bit bewildered at this simple task gone awry, I set both unforseen weapons on the hardwood floor and gathered my babies into my arms.
Was clearing the counter worth it?!
Being a rather task-oriented person, I tend to draw a lot of satisfaction from checking off a to-do list.
This little kitchen collision brought to mind President Thomas S. Monson’s admonition — “Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.”
Perhaps everyday we get to choose whether working in the kitchen with Martha really IS more important than sitting at the Savior’s feet with Mary. (Luke 10:38–42)
Undoubtedly, our Savior died to give us send chance after second chance to choose “the better part”.
And choosing this “better part” may mean taking time to lead my “shadows” in serving their mortal co-inhabitants instead of running them over while marching through this never-ending work list called LIFE.