Grace like Rain

Can you feel it?!

It is pouring down all over you! Look up, close your eyes, taste it on your lips, and then take a drink from the only source that can satisfy your deepest longings.

God's grace is like rain pouring down all over me and my stains are COMPLETELY and TOTALLY washed away.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Back to 'normal'

You may ask, "What is normal?", and I will respond with--"I HAVE NO IDEA!" I can't tell you how many times I write out a schedule of everything I want to get accomplished in a week, of the chores I want the girls to complete on their own, of all the cleaning I want to get done, of the many things--in the school area--that I want to teach them, my meal plan written out and the free time to read, relax, whatever....It is Sunday night, after writing out that schedule, I feel 'normal', and then comes Monday morning....
The breakfast dishes are left in the sink to deal with behavior issues with the girls. The girls attempt to help me clean, instead of just putting their clothes away they decide to pull out all the others clothes to organize them a bit better, that is fine--I needed to get to that eventually anyway. Time to wash the floor, they want to help, which leads to an extra load of laundry from all the towels that were used with helping me. (no time to finish organizing all the clothes, too much on the schedule to get done)We head outside for a small nature walk, which turns into playing in the creek, which turns into more laundry, which also turns into time passing quickly and it is time to make lunch. Lunch turns into more dishes, which are left to deal with more behavior issues. Oooppssss, need to get that laundry going, well---I should attempt to get some schooling done today, more behavior issues...who knocked over the open shampoo bottle? Lets sit outside to read some books, look at that butterfly...grabbing our nets and jars we head off on another expedition. Oh no, it is 4:00 already!--forget the meal plan I guess we are doing breakfast for dinner, everyone needs a bath, book time is a must--we hardly read a thing today. Girls are in bed, I finally get my dishes done, move the clothes into the dryer but have 2 more loads behind it. I surface clean...and sit down to write out my schedule for Tuesday by moving over everything from Monday that I never accomplished and then get ready to start all over. Only Tuesday involves babysitting in the morning, playing with friends till about 2, leave for drama class at 3:10, home by 5:30 and packing whatever food I can grab quickly into the cooler or little hands, in order to make it to Tball at 6, which lasts till 8, after running errands--home by 9, kids in bed and the schedule is forgotton under all my piles of papers that need to be filed on my VERY messy desk....and there we go, back to 'NORMAL'. You may ask, "What do you prefer?" and I believe there is a correct answer to that, but it can only be answered if my perspective is correct....the dishes can wait, the laundry will be there for the weekend, the schooling can wait for a rainy, slower day, food is food--who said it has to be on a plate, involving 3 food groups(every night)....there are butterflies to catch, creeks to explore, hands to hold, and a time to scold. I think it is great for them to learn to be on a schedule and get things accomplished, but that does seem to be the abnormal (during these young years, at least). I think I would have to answer your question with....
"This is the 'normal' I prefer."
(yes, that is a worm that I found just sitting on my kitchen table)

6 comments:

The Boisverts said...

I needed a chuckle today. thanks for the transparent and great post...maybe my favorite one ever. I think I could have echoed that whole thing; seems like a common theme in the lives of Stay at Home Mommies. Well said!

ps...the worm on the table made me laugh. (thanks!!)
pps...Happy Mother's Day to one of the best! You are "my kind of Mom" in the way you parent!! God knew what He was doing when He gave you three fun and adventurous girls.

Anonymous said...

yeah! i love it. so true. way to keep a good perspective of what really matters. =)
Happy Mama's day!

Anonymous said...

You have such beautiful blogs... your pictures, your words... they actually make me feel transported into a beautiful fairytale land! Love it!

gina said...

This is a great post! I think you forgot to mention, "write a great blog post that encourages everyone who reads it and makes them smile..."

I love the worm. Classic. It was great that you thought to stop and take a picture.

I really needed this, as I sit at someone else's house, waiting for the electricity to be restored at my own home. I am trying (successfully I might add) to enjoy precious time with family who are feeding us and letting us crash here and trying NOT to think about the food spoiling in my fridge or 'Monday' chores that wait for me when I get home.

Okay, that is the longest comment I ever made on a blog. I get the blue ribbon. yay!

Talk soon!

amanda said...

Oh, yay! So I'm not the only one! Whew!

The dishes have been sitting for a couple of days (hubby did the last batch), the laundry is a week behind, and I don't think I've really read them a book in... I can't remember!

Thanks so much for the laugh! I needed this today!

Amanda:)

AmyLovesDavid said...

It's been ages since I've checked your blog, so I'm getting caught up on everything from Independence Day & working my way backward. It's been wonderful to see what I've been missing out on while I was too "busy" to check in!

Thank you for being vulnerable & posting something like this. Yep, I think of you as leading a fairytale life with all your priorities always in order & days so perfectly ordered that you have plenty of time to do fun stuff like go "creek stomping" & collect worms! It's good to know that we're probably more alike than different & it gives me encouragement that even in the midst of craziness, you've kept a good perspective & know what's important. Housework will always be there, but our babies won't. Nicely done!! :-)