Monday, June 9, 2008

about 6 1/2 years ago...

I dropped by Amber Shimer's house. She has 4 children and that day as we stood in her entryway and talked I was amazed at what went down in the 10 minutes we chatted. One of the girls wet her undies and it was on the floor. The older daughter ran downstairs to tell mom, and accidentally knocked one of the beautiful plates off the wall in the process. Shattered glass everywhere. Then the doorbell rang. It was the exterminator dropping off a racoon trap. WOW I thought, so this is what life with 4 little ones looks like. I got back in my car and drove to the office without a care in the world.

Fast forward to today. After Moose went number two in his undies and it fell on the floor I sent him to the bathroom to clean up. Little Darlin' was eating so we headed into the bathroom to help Moose (LD is still eating) (I'm trying to multi-task because I have to). Get that cleaned up.

1:10pm-Nat calls and invites us to go with them in 20 min to get all the boys haircuts. I hang up and call to get my boys appts.

1:11pm- I realize that there is no possible way I can get all four of us dressed, loaded and across town to make the appt I just scheduled for 1:30. Plus we haven't even had lunch yet because we've been in the bathroom for the last 30 minutes.

1:12- call to cancel our appt.

1:15- I'm getting turkey and cheese out for sandwiches when the beautiful light from heaven begins to shine down and the Hallelujah chorus begins to play...I see BBQ leftovers I forgot about from Smokehouse on Saturday!!!! Thank you Jesus for good leftovers!!!

1:20- we are all seated to eat and Little Darlin' wakes up! Hey, I'm not picky, I can hold a crying baby and eat at the same time!

It is amazing how one day can be a well oiled machine-Tidy house, sun shining in, order...and the next day can be a bit more like today. In my little insanity lapse when I really wanted to hurry to load us up and get haircuts (because they are badly needed right now!) I remembered what God taught me a last year.

"God is not a God of disorder but of peace" I Cor 14:33
"The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways..." Prov 14:8

I am the queen of going and doing, lots of times it has been at the expense of my family. I'll want to go to Target and rush us to get there, yada yada yada. It was freeing to see those verses and apply them to my everyday life decisions. And to remember that it is the little choices I make everyday that add up to the tone I set for our home. So, sometimes I let go of my whims and don't get everything done that I wanted. It's a good thing.

8 comments:

Jenny said...

I've definitely had those moments. Dawn W. yesterday at church asked how it was with 3 and I said some moments I think, "wow, I've really got this thing down" then two hours later I'm having a meltdown. I like those verses, especially this one...
"God is not a God of disorder but of peace" I Cor 14:33

Sarah said...

I'm going to write those on index cards and plaster them throughout my house!

Kelli said...

Great post. They say these are the times we will someday long for...I don't know if I believe "them." I do know, however, that it has to get easier. In the meantime, it's good to remember that sometimes it's okay to just let the day play out and not be perfect. Thanks for the reminder.

the Percifuls said...

I definitely understand... and I only have two!

heather said...

It's funny, for the last few months I've been telling Chris that I feel like it's my job to set the mood in our home. Depending on how I set things up, we can either have an overall sense of hurry and stress or I can choose to help facilitate peace. It is definitely something that I am continually reminding myself of! But I'm sure that by the time cuatro gets here I'll have mastered creating a peacefully home. lol!!

The Uptons said...

Great thoughts that I thoroughly agree with. We do live our lives before a wild God, so with Him at the helm, why should our lives be any different?! WILD!

Becke' said...

I had a similar experience with Sam at Sonshine Academy today. (We were there for 2 1/2 hours.) He doesn't have #2 down yet...but FREAKS when he realizes what he has done. Well, he did it twice!! And guess what AWESOME Mommy only brought one pull up! I had to get creative after the huge mess...I found a swim diaper in the bag, whoo-hoo! "How do you get those stinkers to go #2 IN the potty?"

Monkey Toes said...

Preach it, Sista! I can think of one day last fall, when Addie wouldn't get dressed and had to go to time out for being sassy. Ryan rolled off the blanket on the floor and pumped his head on the table leg, then spit up on his outfit and mine, then as I was going to change mine, I fell in his spit up that I missed on our white tile (which was dirty). He was okay in my arms, but I just started crying and then Addie said, "Mom...your eyes are black." Of course, the one day I put mascara on. I call these days ..."elephant pooped on my head" days...just can't get out of the mess, so you gotta trust God and slow down. Nice to know I'm not alone! You are a great mom and are doing a really good job!!