Beauty in Chaos

A guitar piece, with pandemic intervals, by Carter Baldwin.

Watch the video and read Carter's comments below.

Are we expecting God to wait for Us?

A year into the pandemic, a lot of parents with young children are well past going stir crazy and have gotten used to the insane balancing act of trying to work from home in between toddler tantrums, time outs, and the Terrible Twos. Living rooms have become combination day-care centers/coworking spaces where parents grant the little ones a few extra minutes of screen time in an effort to just… answer… one… email.

House Baldwin is certainly no exception. Herein lies the inspiration for this partially improvised acoustic guitar piece.

How often do we think God can only speak to us when we have everything set just the way we need it? When we have everything balanced and in order? When we have time? I would imagine most if not all of us are wired that way. It’s in our nature as humans to want to control as much as we can. But we must remember that God’s timing is far different from ours. Expecting God to wait until we get ourselves ready is, to be honest, a fool’s errand. Instead, what if we looked for God in the chaos and found that in even the darkest, most chaotic times of life… God is there. Always at work. Always showing us their grace and loving us toward themselves.

When I recorded this piece, I intentionally made no effort to clean up the room, tell the kids to be quiet, or even turn off the TV. If I’m being honest, I only kind of brushed my hair and I can’t tell you if I brushed my teeth or not. Because while appearance can matter and the plethora of toys and diapers that currently occupies my living room is a constant source of anxiety, it helps me remember to stop and see God at work in the beautiful chaos right in front of me. For me it’s seeing our kids play together, creating worlds and stories on the spot. It’s seeing our two older children pause to make sure our youngest is included. And it’s seeing all of this in light of God’s incredible grace and provision.

May you be blessed in the beautiful chaos today.

- Carter Baldwin