Could You Do Something For Me? That Would Be Grreeeaaaat…

Today is a rare day.  The big kids have a full day of school on a Monday, both babies are were napping, and R is upstairs resting.  I actually get the computer all to myself!  I get a glass of water and a cup of coffee and sit down to tackle my ginormous list of things I need to do before I forget them all.  Rather than tackle that list first, I do what all modern mommies do:  lie to myself and say, 'I'm just gonna check on Facebook real quick -- I won't be on here too long.'  LIE OF THE CENTURY!  It's a time-sucking vortex!  Scientific studies have shown that there is a time-Facebook phenomenon that actually accelerates time and diminishes productivity of maternal brain matter.

OK.  Not really.  But it sure seems to happen more often than not.  Can I get a witness?

Thankfully I managed to do some clicking and catching up and avoided Candy Crush Saga.  Sort of.  At any rate, I realized that almost every.single.one of my Facebook friends have:

     a)  Had a birthday
     b)  Been crazy sick
     c)  Had major "stuff" going on in their lives
     d)  Some or all of the above

I clicked over to my burgeoning inbox of messages on Facebook to see how many sweet friends have been checking in on my family and reaching out to say hello and extending well wishes and prayers.  (I won't even tell you the four-digit number that is equal to the number of unread messages in my Gmail account.)

So many loose ends dangling that I need to tend to.

I glanced to my right, looking out the window to my front flower beds.  I finished planting one side completely and got a decent start on the other side.  I glanced to my left, looking out the window to my backyard.  There is a beautiful, huge raised bed that R and I put in the backyard last week, tilled, composted, and waiting patiently for seed to be sown and growth to begin.  The table where we should've eaten lunch yesterday is still covered in unplanted plants, dirt, and tools.

And today it's rainy.  And cold.

I won't even get into all of the projects I see as my eyes scan each room of my house.  Stacks here, toys there, laundry done and folded but not put away, sticky messes waiting like booby traps set by three-foot tall agents of destruction.

So many loose ends dangling that I need to tend to.

When is the last time I got to pick up a book and read it to completion?  I can actually tell you:  August 7, 2011.  The reason I know this?  It was the night before I gave birth to our third child.  I don't have the attention span to read more than a nutrition label on a box of cereal these days.  The last time I got to pick up my Bible and read voraciously?  Just before R's surgery, as I neglected other duties to prepare my heart for battle.  The last time I bathed?  Well, that has admittedly been more recently, but not near as often as I'd like, or quite frankly deserve.

Do you see a pattern here?

I feel like I'm just barely getting by on a lick and a promise, as the saying goes.  We have all been sick non-stop since February 14.  That is almost eight straight weeks of temperatures, upset stomaches, snotty noses, coughing loud enough to wake the dead, three bottles of children's Tylenol, three bottles of children's Motrin, three packages of Mucinex, six large boxes of Kleenex, and the list just goes on.  Cancer.  Viruses.  Ear infections.  Sinus infections.  Lice -- again.  Bronchitis.  Possible pneumonia.

Totally promise I'm not complaining, although as I read back over the list…  Yeah, it's a little long.

I am weary, yet I have JOY.  Not "yipee skippee" joy, but joy in my heart that, somewhere through the fatigue and mounds of tissues, God is in the midst of this experience.  Joy that tells me to take this day at a time, or mound of laundry at a time -- sunshine does follow the rain, and rain is crucial to nourish the earth and encourages growth.  I need this valley experience whether or not I desire to be in the middle of it.  The Bible verse from the children's sermon yesterday was James 1:2-8.  I like the way The Message summarized verses two through four:

     "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."


The puppet ministry taught the kids about this verse.  It didn't mean that God sits up on some fluffy cloud and throws roadblocks in our way to make us stumble and fall and learn our lesson.  It is an opportunity for us to lean on God and rely on God's strength.  We -- I -- don't possess the strength necessary to accomplish all of this on my own.  I can rest in the fact that Someone else does, and Lord knows I could use some rest right now.  Challenges in life just happen, y'all.  We gotta roll with the punches, take them on one at a time, and know that God is there in the midst of it with us, not munching on popcorn and telling us we missed a spot as we struggle along.
But if the Good Lord could just tell my kids to quit making messes faster than I can clean them up, that would be greeeaaaat…



http://youtu.be/GjJCdCXFslY