Hope in times of failure...

The storms are moving in. The rain is dancing on the roof. The smell is breath-taking. Spring storms remind me of my childhood home. When Eric and I lived on 3rd street in the big old house born just after the turn of the century we'd sit outside on the porch swing on nights like this. The kids would be safely nestled in their beds and we would sit in total silence enjoying the beauty in the sky as it lit up and thunder rolled over top. I love this weather. It also reminds me of harvests past when all wheat cutting would cease as a storm hovered over the fields. My dad would wonder how long it would be before he could get back in the field. What a great night filled with the awesome signs of spring (not your usual ones!) And...not the worries of in-coming tornadoes like Kansas! :) Iowa is becoming a home to us.

I found some reassurance after my bad mommy day. From Brennan Mannings, The Ragamuffin Gospel : "The mature Christians I have met along the way are those who have failed and have learned to live gracefully with their failure. Faithfulness requires the courage to risk everything on Jesus, the willingness to keep growing, and the readiness to risk failure thorughout our lives." I've failed but there is hope. (I've got a ways to go before the mature Christian part but still have hope!)

I'll end with a Lucy story -
I walked into the kitchen and there were piles of white all over my black appliances, inside my microwave, all over the countertop and on the floor. Eric asked Lucy why she would pour salt all over mommy's kitchen. Does she not like us and want us to clean up such a crazy mess? She looked at him square in the eye and gave a smart-alec reply, "God made me do it." Proving my point of things I've learned lately about my kids being sinners...should've added passing the buck onto God.