As I sit here in my nice warm house, with my family by my side and food in my belly...
I am reminded that we have a great deal to be thankful for...
We are a rich people in every way, even when money is short...
There has never been a day that I have had to feed my kids dirt for cookies
or drink from water where animals urinated or other people bathed...
There has never been a time that we had to eat one cup of rice for the whole day and be thankful for that.. praying for the same ration for the next day..
There has never been a day when my little kids tummies were bloated from malnutrition or disease...
There has never been a night when we had to cover up with newspapers and sleep in a cardboard box and hope that we would make it through the night without freezing to death.
There has never been a time in my kids life that we had to walk miles upon miles to get to medical help,.. that is available to us without question...
There has never been a time that any of my family has needed a medical procedure and were denied because there was no doctor or medical staff available or they were in a different country...
There has never been a time when my cupboards were bare, although one time we were down to a can of kidney beans and a can of sardines.. good thing my mom came along to take me shopping.. thank you mom.
There are many times that my kids say to me .. mom there's nothing to eat in this house.. I look at them and just shake my head.. There's plenty to eat.. you are just feeling too lazy to cook. they groan...
I look at the freedoms I enjoy each day.. and I think of my fellow prisoners who are behind bars.. their freedoms have been taken away and half of the time they are not even treated as human beings.. often being denied their medical needs, going without their glasses for several weeks because soemone decided that person didn't need their eyes, or because they didn't hear "med call" the "nursing staff" decided that he would be fine without his perscribed medicaiton. How about the prsioner they locked in a 4'x6'cell for 7 days and the person couldn't even stand up straight in the cell because it was about 5'high and he is 6'3.
I think about being able to hop in my vehicle(s) and be able to go wherever I feel like going. There are people in the world that would give their shirt off their back to be able to have a fraction of the freedoms we know and take for granted, pretty much on a daily basis..
One thing that all Americans have is the freedom of worship. We can worship God or choose to walk away from him. We can go to the church of our choice, at the time we choose..
We are a priveledged people and I think that we are greedy, selfish and arrogant towards The Lord and towards our fellow people. We take our blessings for granted and assume that they are our Rights instead of our priveledges.
We go out to eat whenever we feel like it and waste tons of food. We wear our clothing for short periods of time and discard them, merely for boredom's sake.
We feel that we must drive a better vehichle than someone else and have better homes than them and the money that is spent on our selfishness goes on and on, with little regard for the poor and homeless.
We rarely consider the needs of the widows and the orphans. We don't write to those in prison, "because what would I say" we don't visit the shut-ins we steer clear of nursing homes and nelglect to help our neighbors who are in need..
Why is this our society today. Because it boils down to being Thankful or Not.
There are things that I am guilty of. I am not perfect, nor do I write this to suggest such a thing. I am merely writing this to wake up the people in this country.
We need to get back to the way it used to be.. with people loving those around them and caring for those in need. We need to stop being so self centered and start showing that we appreciate the blessings that we are so freely given.
There will come a day, that the Lord Almighty will turn us over to a depraived mind. He will cut off our inheritance and leave us standing still, wondering where our next meal will come from, wondering how on earth we will provide for our children.
But if we turn from our wickedness and surrender our lives back to The Lord, then he will have mercy on our souls and provide for us.
Let us not become arrogant to God. There are those who say "I don't believe in God.." You will be sorry that you talked that way, because there will come a day of judgement and I don't want to be one of those ones he tells "Depart from me for I never knew you." Depart to eternal hell and damnation. A place of suffering and costant torment, a place of grinding of teeth and weeping and wailing, forever.
So today, let this be the day that you take inventory of your blessings and let this be the day that you and your family decide that you will become blessings to someone else.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
A Big Miracle in a Little Baby
You most likely won't be able to see the tears that will flow down my cheeks as I tell you this story.. but they will flow.. Now they are tears of happiness and the extent of all my praise and at times they are tears of exasperation! Read on to see what I mean.
It was the summer of 2006. I was selling kitchen products and doing quite well I might add. I felt the Lord tugging at my heart to quit.. not yet i whispered.. I have twenty six shows in these next two months.. after I'm done with them then I will quit, I bartered with the Lord.
When God says jump, I suggest you ask how high, because all and I mean ALL of those 26 shows canceled and I've never looked back. You know that God sees the whole thing, when we just see a tiny bit of what we call our life.
In the Month of September, I found out, that I was pregnant after 8 years of infertility. When the doctor told me the shocking news, had I not been sitting in the office chair, I most likely would have fallen to the floor, in disbelief. It was for real and a perfect pregnancy.
Well, almost.. For 19 weeks my husband and I were so thrilled that after four years of marriage and accepting the fact that we would most likely not conceive a child together, we were finally going to have a Baby.
Then one day, starting the 19th week, I had excruciating pain, that I had never before experienced in my whole life. I went to the hospital. Nothing.
For a whole week this continued.. I wasn't in labor, the baby seemed fine. We found out he was a boy.. ( I saw him peeing in the ultrasound..oops..)
Week 20, on my daughter's 8th birthday, I headed to the hospital for the second time in the same day, because the pain was so horrific that I could bare it no longer.
Then as I lay in the bed, my water broke, like Niagara Falls. The doctors told me that our little baby needed to be aborted because he wouldn't make it and my life was in jeopardy. I begged them no.
They said he is too little he will never survive. I said so if he is born alive, what will you do with him, how will you help him.. They told me. "We will wrap him in a blanket and let you hold him until he dies. I begged them to give him oxygen, they said "he won't make it."
I cried out to God in my distress and he heard my cry.
You know to make a long story short... I carried little Garrett for five weeks without a speck of water in my womb.. the doctors told me "even if you carry him to term he will die, because he needs the water to help his lungs develop."
My husband and I said "We will trust God no matter what you say.." And we have!
Garrett was born..crying. on February 9th 2007. He had both his arms and legs, both sets of tiny little hands and feet were perfect, and he was breathing! Yep breathing on his own.
The doctors said.. "don't get you're hope up.. this is a honeymoon period. " I said... no this is the power of God at work.. you all told me many times that he wouldn't live one day."
We spent four and a half months in the Nicu with our son. Those were long and sometimes horrible days. The doctors barely ever gave us any hope to cling to, only reports of how he was languishing and we were fighting a losing battle.
Garrett endured 22 blood transfusions, laser eye surgery on both eyes and 6 other operations while he was there. He was on the ventilator, oscillator and endured so many things, it would use all the ink in the ocean to list it all.
He came home, in June 07, on oxygen and 6 medications. By September of 07 he was off EVERYTHING. The doctors said he would never breathe on his own, ever.
Our little man is a fighter, and my hero. So are all the other little micro preemies my heroes because of how hard they fight to survive.
Garrett weighed in at 1lb 8Oz and measured just under a ruler of 11.5 inches long. He would literally fit in the palm of my hand. And to tell you how tiny he was, my husband's wedding band went right up his little arm like a big bangle bracelet. He was exactly 3 blocks of cheese. (that's how we could tell other people how much he weighed.)
Now he weighs 50 blocks of cheese. That's 25 pounds and let me tell you he is all boy and healthy as a horse, though most days I think dust bunnies eat more than he does.
If you read some of my Face book entries you will see that between him and his baby brother, who is now 16 months old, there is never a dull moment in our house.
Garrett is healthy and such a blessing to us. His "parroting" is a riot and you have to watch every word that comes out of your mouth around him.
Every day I look at him and thank god for his life. When the doctors told me he would die...God has other plans, and this is what I always say.. For someone who wasn't supposed to live, didn't even have a zero % chance of survival given to him.. he sure is doing a lot of living.
He is three years old today, and those three years have been rough and rocky at times, but it's been a thrill to see what God is doing in his little life.
So don't take everything that the doctors say as the gospel truth. They are only human and they can make mistakes. Trust God for the outcome, because He knows the end from the beginning and holds our lives in the palm of his hands.
Thank you to all the doctors and nurses, for all the people everywhere that prayed and for all the support that we received during those starting months. I will celebrate my son's third birthday with a big Elmo cake and lots of laughs...
Let's just hope today isn't the day that he dumps orange juice over his brother's head or dumps another box of rice crispies all over the floor, and please oh please don't jam one more thing into my brand new toilet. The other day he decided that the toilet needed a dish towel and a beach towel jammed into it all at the same time.
It was the summer of 2006. I was selling kitchen products and doing quite well I might add. I felt the Lord tugging at my heart to quit.. not yet i whispered.. I have twenty six shows in these next two months.. after I'm done with them then I will quit, I bartered with the Lord.
When God says jump, I suggest you ask how high, because all and I mean ALL of those 26 shows canceled and I've never looked back. You know that God sees the whole thing, when we just see a tiny bit of what we call our life.
In the Month of September, I found out, that I was pregnant after 8 years of infertility. When the doctor told me the shocking news, had I not been sitting in the office chair, I most likely would have fallen to the floor, in disbelief. It was for real and a perfect pregnancy.
Well, almost.. For 19 weeks my husband and I were so thrilled that after four years of marriage and accepting the fact that we would most likely not conceive a child together, we were finally going to have a Baby.
Then one day, starting the 19th week, I had excruciating pain, that I had never before experienced in my whole life. I went to the hospital. Nothing.
For a whole week this continued.. I wasn't in labor, the baby seemed fine. We found out he was a boy.. ( I saw him peeing in the ultrasound..oops..)
Week 20, on my daughter's 8th birthday, I headed to the hospital for the second time in the same day, because the pain was so horrific that I could bare it no longer.
Then as I lay in the bed, my water broke, like Niagara Falls. The doctors told me that our little baby needed to be aborted because he wouldn't make it and my life was in jeopardy. I begged them no.
They said he is too little he will never survive. I said so if he is born alive, what will you do with him, how will you help him.. They told me. "We will wrap him in a blanket and let you hold him until he dies. I begged them to give him oxygen, they said "he won't make it."
I cried out to God in my distress and he heard my cry.
You know to make a long story short... I carried little Garrett for five weeks without a speck of water in my womb.. the doctors told me "even if you carry him to term he will die, because he needs the water to help his lungs develop."
My husband and I said "We will trust God no matter what you say.." And we have!
Garrett was born..crying. on February 9th 2007. He had both his arms and legs, both sets of tiny little hands and feet were perfect, and he was breathing! Yep breathing on his own.
The doctors said.. "don't get you're hope up.. this is a honeymoon period. " I said... no this is the power of God at work.. you all told me many times that he wouldn't live one day."
We spent four and a half months in the Nicu with our son. Those were long and sometimes horrible days. The doctors barely ever gave us any hope to cling to, only reports of how he was languishing and we were fighting a losing battle.
Garrett endured 22 blood transfusions, laser eye surgery on both eyes and 6 other operations while he was there. He was on the ventilator, oscillator and endured so many things, it would use all the ink in the ocean to list it all.
He came home, in June 07, on oxygen and 6 medications. By September of 07 he was off EVERYTHING. The doctors said he would never breathe on his own, ever.
Our little man is a fighter, and my hero. So are all the other little micro preemies my heroes because of how hard they fight to survive.
Garrett weighed in at 1lb 8Oz and measured just under a ruler of 11.5 inches long. He would literally fit in the palm of my hand. And to tell you how tiny he was, my husband's wedding band went right up his little arm like a big bangle bracelet. He was exactly 3 blocks of cheese. (that's how we could tell other people how much he weighed.)
Now he weighs 50 blocks of cheese. That's 25 pounds and let me tell you he is all boy and healthy as a horse, though most days I think dust bunnies eat more than he does.
If you read some of my Face book entries you will see that between him and his baby brother, who is now 16 months old, there is never a dull moment in our house.
Garrett is healthy and such a blessing to us. His "parroting" is a riot and you have to watch every word that comes out of your mouth around him.
Every day I look at him and thank god for his life. When the doctors told me he would die...God has other plans, and this is what I always say.. For someone who wasn't supposed to live, didn't even have a zero % chance of survival given to him.. he sure is doing a lot of living.
He is three years old today, and those three years have been rough and rocky at times, but it's been a thrill to see what God is doing in his little life.
So don't take everything that the doctors say as the gospel truth. They are only human and they can make mistakes. Trust God for the outcome, because He knows the end from the beginning and holds our lives in the palm of his hands.
Thank you to all the doctors and nurses, for all the people everywhere that prayed and for all the support that we received during those starting months. I will celebrate my son's third birthday with a big Elmo cake and lots of laughs...
Let's just hope today isn't the day that he dumps orange juice over his brother's head or dumps another box of rice crispies all over the floor, and please oh please don't jam one more thing into my brand new toilet. The other day he decided that the toilet needed a dish towel and a beach towel jammed into it all at the same time.
Friday, February 5, 2010
What would you do?
What would say to your spouse or loved one, if you only had 15 minutes in a day. Would you try to squeeze in every last thought or just say a few words and let them have the floor? Would you feel cheated out of time when the timer went off or would you be glad it was over?
What if your time with your child was reduced to only a few minutes each day? Could you say all that needed to be said or would you be left standing there in tears because you knew the time was up?
What if your parent lay in the hospital bed, dying, with minutes left in their life. Would you be able to be strong for your mother or father. Would you embrace them and hold them like never before? Because you know that eternity is just around the corner for them?
How about if you knew that you had a terminal illness and knew that you yourself only had a short time left to live. Would you live all you could for all the living you didn't do while you had the chance? would there be people that you would try to contact? Would you try to make amends with any people that would stay behind after you were gone?
You know we are but a breath of air on the earth and then we are gone. No-one knows the day or the hour that we shall pass. Some doctors like to play "God" with people and tell them you only have 6 months to live or 2 weeks... my thought about that is that there is no test on earth that can be performed on us that would tell the exact moment that we shall perish. Perfect example.. my soon to be three year old..
Many doctors told us that Garrett wouldn't live a day, even if I had carried him to term.. my water broke at 20 weeks and I carried him to twenty five weeks with no fluid.. His lungs won't develop, they told me. You should abort him. I said "No way" If God wants to take him, he will be in a much better place.. if God wants me.. I am ready to go. If not, then, we will let God decide what kind of life our son will have.
Today that little guy is not so little anymore.. he was 1 lb 8 oz at birth and 11.5 inches.. he's now 25 pounds and 3 feet tall. He romps around my home with the greatest of ease and give me a heart attack about once a day with his little antics. the doctors didn't see the whole picture that God knew since the beginning of Creation.
So here's my summary...tell people that you love them.. and mean it.
Your kids are important and you should tell them everyday that you love them and how special they are to you, you think they will outlive you, but I know people that have buried not one but three young children.
My friend calls his mom every single night before she goes to bed to tell her that he loves her and that touches my heart.
Live life while you can. Don't be depressed over things that you have no control over, or the past which is gone and is never coming back. You can't change another person, only God can do that . You can change you and your outlook on life. Instead of seeing the thorns on the rosebush, stop and admire the beauty that lies within each petal.
If you are sick, maybe have diabetes, don't sit there and whine about it all the time, {while sucking down a non-diet soda or eating a candy bar that you know you aren't supposed to eat.. change your attitude and your lifestyle so that you might live longer and healthier.
Did you know that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. A piece of friendly advice... smile it'll cheer you up and most likely someone else will benefit from your mood.
How about a toe stepper? If you are overweight {and most people know if they are or not and don't have to be told by a two year old.. Hey mister.. you're fat!} Do something about it and stop living denial. Work on your own diet plan.. forget all these Plans that usually get you "fatter" when you stop doing it. Mostly it's your attitude toward the thing that is going to motivate you into action. but doing nothing here, is NOT an option. (want to know a secret..sh no telling... I got really heavy for a few years.. and now my youngest is 16 months old.. my goal is to be the weight that I was 15 years ago. !%) It is attainable and I only have $$ to go. I'm proud that I did this on my own with no big diet plan or someone screaming in my face that i didn't lose enough weight that week.. Hey I'm proud of those people on biggest loser if they lose 1 pound in a week, at least they didn't gain 1!
Tell me what will you do. will you talk to more people? Will yo settle disagreements before that person is buried 6 feet under and there isn't going to be a settling then. Will you try to smile more and be pleasant to people, in the stores,while waiting in line, how about when you are driving out on the highway? I have seen some really discourteous drivers out there and you know it's ridiculous, we've all got to get somewhere. but please don't run me over in the process. right.
So make today the day that you do those things that are on your "to-do" list. And Hey! humor me... Smile already!!!
What if your time with your child was reduced to only a few minutes each day? Could you say all that needed to be said or would you be left standing there in tears because you knew the time was up?
What if your parent lay in the hospital bed, dying, with minutes left in their life. Would you be able to be strong for your mother or father. Would you embrace them and hold them like never before? Because you know that eternity is just around the corner for them?
How about if you knew that you had a terminal illness and knew that you yourself only had a short time left to live. Would you live all you could for all the living you didn't do while you had the chance? would there be people that you would try to contact? Would you try to make amends with any people that would stay behind after you were gone?
You know we are but a breath of air on the earth and then we are gone. No-one knows the day or the hour that we shall pass. Some doctors like to play "God" with people and tell them you only have 6 months to live or 2 weeks... my thought about that is that there is no test on earth that can be performed on us that would tell the exact moment that we shall perish. Perfect example.. my soon to be three year old..
Many doctors told us that Garrett wouldn't live a day, even if I had carried him to term.. my water broke at 20 weeks and I carried him to twenty five weeks with no fluid.. His lungs won't develop, they told me. You should abort him. I said "No way" If God wants to take him, he will be in a much better place.. if God wants me.. I am ready to go. If not, then, we will let God decide what kind of life our son will have.
Today that little guy is not so little anymore.. he was 1 lb 8 oz at birth and 11.5 inches.. he's now 25 pounds and 3 feet tall. He romps around my home with the greatest of ease and give me a heart attack about once a day with his little antics. the doctors didn't see the whole picture that God knew since the beginning of Creation.
So here's my summary...tell people that you love them.. and mean it.
Your kids are important and you should tell them everyday that you love them and how special they are to you, you think they will outlive you, but I know people that have buried not one but three young children.
My friend calls his mom every single night before she goes to bed to tell her that he loves her and that touches my heart.
Live life while you can. Don't be depressed over things that you have no control over, or the past which is gone and is never coming back. You can't change another person, only God can do that . You can change you and your outlook on life. Instead of seeing the thorns on the rosebush, stop and admire the beauty that lies within each petal.
If you are sick, maybe have diabetes, don't sit there and whine about it all the time, {while sucking down a non-diet soda or eating a candy bar that you know you aren't supposed to eat.. change your attitude and your lifestyle so that you might live longer and healthier.
Did you know that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. A piece of friendly advice... smile it'll cheer you up and most likely someone else will benefit from your mood.
How about a toe stepper? If you are overweight {and most people know if they are or not and don't have to be told by a two year old.. Hey mister.. you're fat!} Do something about it and stop living denial. Work on your own diet plan.. forget all these Plans that usually get you "fatter" when you stop doing it. Mostly it's your attitude toward the thing that is going to motivate you into action. but doing nothing here, is NOT an option. (want to know a secret..sh no telling... I got really heavy for a few years.. and now my youngest is 16 months old.. my goal is to be the weight that I was 15 years ago. !%) It is attainable and I only have $$ to go. I'm proud that I did this on my own with no big diet plan or someone screaming in my face that i didn't lose enough weight that week.. Hey I'm proud of those people on biggest loser if they lose 1 pound in a week, at least they didn't gain 1!
Tell me what will you do. will you talk to more people? Will yo settle disagreements before that person is buried 6 feet under and there isn't going to be a settling then. Will you try to smile more and be pleasant to people, in the stores,while waiting in line, how about when you are driving out on the highway? I have seen some really discourteous drivers out there and you know it's ridiculous, we've all got to get somewhere. but please don't run me over in the process. right.
So make today the day that you do those things that are on your "to-do" list. And Hey! humor me... Smile already!!!
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Rice Crispie Day
A Rice Crispie Day:
The day started out like it always does, with one daughter booming down the steps, bright and early, 6 am. (When I had just settled down, after another restless night of sleep.) ' Morning Mom! "Morning, Kid I sleepily groaned." See ya later, love ya."
"Yep, love you too." she called. Ah back to sleep for an hour.
"Hey, Mom can you sign this slip, it has to be in today.." It could have been,... me signing my life savings away. Well, I guess they won't get much a few coins, a couple of sewing machines and a bunch of dust bunnies, hiding under the sofa.
Then I finally relax and start to get a good dream going on...."THUNK" bLAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I charge out of bed, crash my foot into the towel closet in the hall and rush into the nursery to see my one year old laying on the floor. Two year old says "baby out, mom", as he himself is sitting in his brother's crib.
So that's how he's been getting out. You pushed him over the top. "baby out."
After a while, I had the boys at the table, strapped in ready for breakfast. I thought, "Well I 'd better go weigh my self, before I start the day." It's looking good, I have lost 52 pounds since the "little guy" was born. Yahoo.
Phone rings. Hello I say and hear a familiar voice. We talk briefly, because I hear screeching down stairs. I run full tilt down the steps and gasp in horror, as my eyes beheld what my two year old had just accomplished. He took the "Family size" box of Rice Crispies and proceeded to pour them all over the floor.
"Baby did it", says the two year year old. Yeah, all the evidence points to the two year old. I sigh and get the vacuum.
Ten peed pair of pants and oops a number two on the floor.
Nap time: The two year old completely obliterated his crib mattress, taking the covering off and destroyed the foam.
Had to take the girls to the eye doctor, guess what they both need glasses. Ouch another pocket whammy.
Did I mention that my friend's daughter was supposed to come here after school and guess what? My puny little brain didn't even process that when I got the younger one from school, to take her to the appointment.
So half way home , younger daughter says mom what about my friend. She was supposed to come home with me today. The older one says you have to take me to my boyfriend's house first. They were both pulling at my nerves to take care of their needs first, add to that a couple of screaming, tired babies and you have a mom on the verge of despair!
We drop off #1 then rush to see of friend is at our house... Nope.. call a bunch of people.. Nope... then I call the mom of the kid... Yep "I tried to call you today, to let you know that I would be getting her today"... That was what my mother and I refer to a God thing.
Kids came home from the appointment, only to notice that the commode was out of commission. Mom where are we supposed to go to the bathroom...
"there's a baby potty," or if all else fails you could walk to the store, or go to the neighbors.. outside is not really an option, cuz we live in the city.
So I took the toilet off the floor, for the second time in two weeks. YUK and double Yuk it's was equally as gross both times.
I worked on it for six hours. It's a real nasty job, but someone had to do it right. To no avail!
Let's just say by the end of the night, I was literally in tears. I felt overwhelmed and helpless, alone in a big world with just me my kids the dogs and my tears. (And most likely a couple new gray hairs to boot.)
That's the way Rice Crispie days are. Overwhelming, and tear jerking. They can make a person feel that they are on the brink, that the flood will overtake them.
But there is hope!
You know the Lord says that he understands our Rice Crispie days and that he cares about even the slightest little thing... yep even the fact that there are "skatey- eight billion" tiny particles of cereal in that family sized box and that our nerves feel that they can't handle one more thing.
Then the next day, as I sit upon my brand new "throne.." I reach for the tp and there is the answer.. a scripture that I had posted just above the tp.. My grace is sufficient for thee and my power is made perfect in your weakness.
God does understand that we are human and that there are days when all seems to go wrong. We can trust him in every situation, whether it be a box of spilled rice crispies or in the death of a loved one, whether it be in a giant earthquake or a flooding basement.
God says that we can trust him and he will be our grace, our sufficiency, our all in all. He even says that he stores our tears in a bottle.
I am reminded to thank Him when all is right so I don't feel distant from him when all is going wrong.
Hope you have a wonderful day and don't trample in the rice crispies too long.
The day started out like it always does, with one daughter booming down the steps, bright and early, 6 am. (When I had just settled down, after another restless night of sleep.) ' Morning Mom! "Morning, Kid I sleepily groaned." See ya later, love ya."
"Yep, love you too." she called. Ah back to sleep for an hour.
"Hey, Mom can you sign this slip, it has to be in today.." It could have been,... me signing my life savings away. Well, I guess they won't get much a few coins, a couple of sewing machines and a bunch of dust bunnies, hiding under the sofa.
Then I finally relax and start to get a good dream going on...."THUNK" bLAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I charge out of bed, crash my foot into the towel closet in the hall and rush into the nursery to see my one year old laying on the floor. Two year old says "baby out, mom", as he himself is sitting in his brother's crib.
So that's how he's been getting out. You pushed him over the top. "baby out."
After a while, I had the boys at the table, strapped in ready for breakfast. I thought, "Well I 'd better go weigh my self, before I start the day." It's looking good, I have lost 52 pounds since the "little guy" was born. Yahoo.
Phone rings. Hello I say and hear a familiar voice. We talk briefly, because I hear screeching down stairs. I run full tilt down the steps and gasp in horror, as my eyes beheld what my two year old had just accomplished. He took the "Family size" box of Rice Crispies and proceeded to pour them all over the floor.
"Baby did it", says the two year year old. Yeah, all the evidence points to the two year old. I sigh and get the vacuum.
Ten peed pair of pants and oops a number two on the floor.
Nap time: The two year old completely obliterated his crib mattress, taking the covering off and destroyed the foam.
Had to take the girls to the eye doctor, guess what they both need glasses. Ouch another pocket whammy.
Did I mention that my friend's daughter was supposed to come here after school and guess what? My puny little brain didn't even process that when I got the younger one from school, to take her to the appointment.
So half way home , younger daughter says mom what about my friend. She was supposed to come home with me today. The older one says you have to take me to my boyfriend's house first. They were both pulling at my nerves to take care of their needs first, add to that a couple of screaming, tired babies and you have a mom on the verge of despair!
We drop off #1 then rush to see of friend is at our house... Nope.. call a bunch of people.. Nope... then I call the mom of the kid... Yep "I tried to call you today, to let you know that I would be getting her today"... That was what my mother and I refer to a God thing.
Kids came home from the appointment, only to notice that the commode was out of commission. Mom where are we supposed to go to the bathroom...
"there's a baby potty," or if all else fails you could walk to the store, or go to the neighbors.. outside is not really an option, cuz we live in the city.
So I took the toilet off the floor, for the second time in two weeks. YUK and double Yuk it's was equally as gross both times.
I worked on it for six hours. It's a real nasty job, but someone had to do it right. To no avail!
Let's just say by the end of the night, I was literally in tears. I felt overwhelmed and helpless, alone in a big world with just me my kids the dogs and my tears. (And most likely a couple new gray hairs to boot.)
That's the way Rice Crispie days are. Overwhelming, and tear jerking. They can make a person feel that they are on the brink, that the flood will overtake them.
But there is hope!
You know the Lord says that he understands our Rice Crispie days and that he cares about even the slightest little thing... yep even the fact that there are "skatey- eight billion" tiny particles of cereal in that family sized box and that our nerves feel that they can't handle one more thing.
Then the next day, as I sit upon my brand new "throne.." I reach for the tp and there is the answer.. a scripture that I had posted just above the tp.. My grace is sufficient for thee and my power is made perfect in your weakness.
God does understand that we are human and that there are days when all seems to go wrong. We can trust him in every situation, whether it be a box of spilled rice crispies or in the death of a loved one, whether it be in a giant earthquake or a flooding basement.
God says that we can trust him and he will be our grace, our sufficiency, our all in all. He even says that he stores our tears in a bottle.
I am reminded to thank Him when all is right so I don't feel distant from him when all is going wrong.
Hope you have a wonderful day and don't trample in the rice crispies too long.
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