This morning I had a beautifully quiet moment... Henry was playing quietly with a couple of cars, I had just brewed a cup of peach tea, and Jonathan called down the stairs for Henry to come up and join him to listen to "Adventures in Odyssey". What a peaceful start to our day!
That's not how the day continued. Sometimes it seems like little people have a "good" quota and a "naughty" quota... yesterday they were exceptionally well behaved for most of the day, and today balanced that out :) Most of the day the issue was fighting with eachother, and toward the end of the day they decided to buddy-up and get into trouble together (which I will chuckle about later, I'm sure :))
I'm grateful for the good days (and good moments-- it's necessary to count those, too!) because they remind me that it's all worth it. The good moments keep things in perspective, place in front of my eyes the goal, the purpose behind it all.
And I'm working on being grateful for the days like today. They certainly keep me humble, and deeply remind me of how much I need God as I raise these little firecrackers :) As today (and my patience) came to a close (and, honestly, as I counted down the minutes until 8 pm when I could sit down by myself with a bowl of sorbet for my sore throat), I couldn't shake how important it is that I be in prayer for two things:
1) ...that God would grant me what I need to do my best at parenting- that He would help me discern in each moment how to proceed, and that He would reign in my heart in the moments of highest intensity. It's so easy for my vision to get clouded by the complexity of the human heart (both my own heart, and theirs), by the colds we have right now, and by the constant training required during this season. I need His whispers of encouragement and discernment EVERY day.
2)...that God would fill in the gaps- when I either don't hear or choose to ignore His whispers.
The last 20 minutes before bedtime things began to turn around. I had been telling the boys throughout the day that I could see in their faces that their "hearts wanted to be naughty", and that I was looking for their "hearts to want to be good". They knew that an early bedtime was looming, and Jonathan came to me with peace in his eyes and asked for a few more minutes to play... I told him that I could see the change in his heart and that I would give them another chance. They played nicely until 8:00 rolled around, and as I tucked them in we talked about our day.
We talked about the choices we had all made throughout the day, and as blame began to get passed, I reminded them (...and myself...) that we are only in charge of our own choices. They told me the "naughty" choices they made, and I told them the ones I made. We talked about how they each felt when the other was being mean or selfish, and about how Mommy felt with so much bad behavior. They reached the conclusion that we would all be happier if we were nicer to eachother, and we decided to try again tomorrow.
I'm so thankful for grace, for each "try again tomorrow" in our adult lives.
After some intentional prayer over our day tomorrow, on to that sorbet! :)
That's not how the day continued. Sometimes it seems like little people have a "good" quota and a "naughty" quota... yesterday they were exceptionally well behaved for most of the day, and today balanced that out :) Most of the day the issue was fighting with eachother, and toward the end of the day they decided to buddy-up and get into trouble together (which I will chuckle about later, I'm sure :))
I'm grateful for the good days (and good moments-- it's necessary to count those, too!) because they remind me that it's all worth it. The good moments keep things in perspective, place in front of my eyes the goal, the purpose behind it all.
And I'm working on being grateful for the days like today. They certainly keep me humble, and deeply remind me of how much I need God as I raise these little firecrackers :) As today (and my patience) came to a close (and, honestly, as I counted down the minutes until 8 pm when I could sit down by myself with a bowl of sorbet for my sore throat), I couldn't shake how important it is that I be in prayer for two things:
1) ...that God would grant me what I need to do my best at parenting- that He would help me discern in each moment how to proceed, and that He would reign in my heart in the moments of highest intensity. It's so easy for my vision to get clouded by the complexity of the human heart (both my own heart, and theirs), by the colds we have right now, and by the constant training required during this season. I need His whispers of encouragement and discernment EVERY day.
2)...that God would fill in the gaps- when I either don't hear or choose to ignore His whispers.
The last 20 minutes before bedtime things began to turn around. I had been telling the boys throughout the day that I could see in their faces that their "hearts wanted to be naughty", and that I was looking for their "hearts to want to be good". They knew that an early bedtime was looming, and Jonathan came to me with peace in his eyes and asked for a few more minutes to play... I told him that I could see the change in his heart and that I would give them another chance. They played nicely until 8:00 rolled around, and as I tucked them in we talked about our day.
We talked about the choices we had all made throughout the day, and as blame began to get passed, I reminded them (...and myself...) that we are only in charge of our own choices. They told me the "naughty" choices they made, and I told them the ones I made. We talked about how they each felt when the other was being mean or selfish, and about how Mommy felt with so much bad behavior. They reached the conclusion that we would all be happier if we were nicer to eachother, and we decided to try again tomorrow.
I'm so thankful for grace, for each "try again tomorrow" in our adult lives.
After some intentional prayer over our day tomorrow, on to that sorbet! :)
Thanks for that Anna! I appreciate your words of encouragment!
ReplyDeleteAnna, that was my day yesterday. Monday and Tuesday had been so wonderful (I have Elizabeth and watch a friends baby that is 3 weeks younger than Elizabeth). Then Wednesday came knocking at my door and teeth started knocking at their gums. Inconsolable tears, pain, and my ears had to take it all. I remember looking to God and saying some days you give me sole enjoyment and some days I have to just make it through. Thanks for sharing this in relatable terms for me and also giving me insight into some of the prayers I can be praying!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteSo encouraging! Hope your throat feels better soon :)
ReplyDelete