real life!

meat packing: a family affair

egg cracking lesson
(Aaron's pose means one just hit the floor)

Tessa's true feelings about eggs

look alikes?

someone dropped a chocolate on my bed...
just in time for Orion's nap!

I have just had two equal and opposite days.  The yin and the yang of days.  Yesterday was a typical day.  I woke up feeling like I hadn’t had enough sleep.  I felt achey and my back hurt before I even got out of bed.  Children also greeted me before I was even out of bed, which is never very pleasant.  I struggled to think of what to make for breakfast.  Shooing the girls upstairs to begin school took a long time.  Finding the motivation to cover all the subjects evaded me.  I took the kids to library story hour.  Aaron was disagreeable.  I got so hungry, I had to go through a drive thru to purchase lunch on the way home.  There were interruptions, accidents, screams and disputes.  Around 4 p.m. the baby went down for a nap, I finished giving Jaci her reading lesson, anticipated a much needed break, and…   the baby woke up—grumpy.  No break.  Grumpy baby=grumpy mommy.  Very, very normal.  By 5 p.m., my head was spinning with frustration.  I had accomplished some things, but only seemed to be able to focus on what wasn’t done.  I was aggravated to the bone about all the stuff that had just been dropped on the floor.  I once again imagined living by myself (just for one day) so the house would stay the same from morning ‘til evening.  At the end of my rope and the end of myself, I caved.  Unbeknownst to my kids, I seethed anger, stomped and cried.  It didn’t take long to find the root of my frustration: wrong focus.  I simply prayed, “God, I cannot control my life.  So will you please control it?!”  My husband had to be away overnight and bedtime was exhausting, but my heart was exposed and open to my Savior.  Something changed. 

All day today, I have been completely aware of God’s grace.  I woke at 5:53 with plenty of energy (everyone who knows me knows that almost never happens).  Two children got up with me, but I didn’t mind.  I got some emails written, three of us ready for the day, started laundry.  When everyone was up, I fixed the normal a la carte breakfast (all 5 of us have something different, but everyone is happy).  We went up to the school room and covered all of our subjects.  Now, typically when we breeze through the curriculum like today, I will look at the clock and it will be 2 p.m.   So that’s what I expected when I gazed, and … it was 11:53.  With no effort at all, we had finished school before lunch!  I was elated!  I knew, without a doubt, that the Lord was lifting me, carrying me, giving me joy in the journey!  I fixed a nutritious lunch.  I had free time to organize, research, check off lists.  I had time to exercise and listen to a sermon.  I fixed a hot dinner.  I took time to correct the children with a soft voice, and had time for a Christmas devotion.  I didn’t see, criticize, or mentally pine about the very same piles that were there yesterday.  It was the most picture perfect (work)day I’ve had in months.  And why?

Just because HE is GRACIOUS!!

Have you ever noticed … that God seems more interested in our heartfelt cries for help, than he is with our eloquent prayers?  Jesus warned us about public prayer, about eloquence, appearance.  I love it that such a great, omniscient, all powerful God stoops down so far to pick me up off my face, and lovingly sets my feet on a rock.  He heals my sins and re-organizes my priorities for me. 

He IS the Life!

  

“I am convinced God doesn’t want us to be less busy.  He wants us to take Him with us into our busyness”—Louie Giglio

Gingerbread Man decorating!

Ella was such a sweetheart when the frosting bag broke,
sending a huge blob of frosting all over hers ~
she said, "It just has more hair!"

yes, I bought a kit from Costco, because, well,
I'm a busy mama, and there were 4 of them!

Finished product!

First snowman of the season!
(complete with hot tamale lips)