Bedtime Prayer
I woke up at 4 am with Beth coming to my bed. I woke up an hour later with her feet in my back. At 6 am Eric was kissing me goodbye. At 7 am I was hitting the snooze for the 6th time. At 7:15 am I found out I needed a backup option for Jake during my morning bible study. By 8 am I was loudly encouraging a kindergartner to stop walking down the front steps and up the back looking for her shoes and freely contemplating where she left her jacket. 8:10 am, now my encouraging turned to yelling and by 8:11 am we were on our way to school only to realize mommy forgot to pack lunches and only half my kids remembered to brush their teeth. The morning was not unusual.
By 1 pm I had already been to Iowa City to my bible study, returned several phone calls, switched laundry loads twice (one the wet bedding from last night), made and cleaned up lunch, read a few pages in a book, cleaned up the morning messes, and located all the library books and videos to return today.
By 5 pm I had spent a total of 3 hours in the car today between Iowa City, ELP, waiting, taking and picking up kids. We'd been to the library for story hour, done homework, played outside. I had already cleaned up apples under dressers, wiped up dry erase markers Lucy had used on the fridge, countertop and microwave (oh, and herself too - she wrote LUCY on her chest), and broke up countless nanny nanny boo boo fights.
By 8 pm I had made one of Eric's favorites for supper (biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs), cleaned up the kitchen, wiped down the tables and counters, bathed the kids, overheard Eric explain to Alex what a dick was, put Lucy in time-out 3 times, sent Jake and Alex to their rooms.
A few minutes ago in my bathroom we found a new tub of lotion destroyed, a new bottle of nail polish remover poured out, 2 cans of hairspray used up and the caps off all the toothpaste. Not sure when Lucy found time for that.
And these are only the things my fried brain can remember.
My time is not my own. My life is no where near stardom and fantasy. But my kids are healthy, my husband is home for the week (first time in 5 weeks!), and I'm learning more each day how awesome God is and what he wants to do with our lives.
My bedtime prayer is this:
"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely." Galatians 5:22-23, THE MESSAGE
May we all remember these basic "fruits of the spirit" in every area of our lives...big or small.
By 1 pm I had already been to Iowa City to my bible study, returned several phone calls, switched laundry loads twice (one the wet bedding from last night), made and cleaned up lunch, read a few pages in a book, cleaned up the morning messes, and located all the library books and videos to return today.
By 5 pm I had spent a total of 3 hours in the car today between Iowa City, ELP, waiting, taking and picking up kids. We'd been to the library for story hour, done homework, played outside. I had already cleaned up apples under dressers, wiped up dry erase markers Lucy had used on the fridge, countertop and microwave (oh, and herself too - she wrote LUCY on her chest), and broke up countless nanny nanny boo boo fights.
By 8 pm I had made one of Eric's favorites for supper (biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs), cleaned up the kitchen, wiped down the tables and counters, bathed the kids, overheard Eric explain to Alex what a dick was, put Lucy in time-out 3 times, sent Jake and Alex to their rooms.
A few minutes ago in my bathroom we found a new tub of lotion destroyed, a new bottle of nail polish remover poured out, 2 cans of hairspray used up and the caps off all the toothpaste. Not sure when Lucy found time for that.
And these are only the things my fried brain can remember.
My time is not my own. My life is no where near stardom and fantasy. But my kids are healthy, my husband is home for the week (first time in 5 weeks!), and I'm learning more each day how awesome God is and what he wants to do with our lives.
My bedtime prayer is this:
"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely." Galatians 5:22-23, THE MESSAGE
May we all remember these basic "fruits of the spirit" in every area of our lives...big or small.
posted by Eric and Pam at
9:09 PM
2 Comments:
very funny. Sounds all too familiar.
Wow! First off, I can't believe you remember you day so well. Second, bless you for finding the "fruit" in everyting you do. Such a gift to my life - smooches.
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