Dear Friends, Family, and Acquaintances

Dear Friends, Family, and Acquaintances, 

I am not always as tidy as I would like!

 

If you venture to drop by my home, unexpectedly, you may be greeted by a home in disarray. Crumbs littering the floor, various toys decorating my living room, a dish or two in the sink... it happens. 

This does not make me a bad person/wife/mom. This also doesn't mean that I am lazy and don't take care of my family. I simply prioritize things differently than you do and I often, as a person, prioritize things differently, from day to day. 

Some days I neglect the laundry a bit to work in the yard or do extra crafts with the kids . Some days I work my fingers to the bone hand scrubbing every surface of my home. Some days, I spend the day running errands and "tornado" my chores right before my husband gets home (if you are reading this, John... cat's outta the bag). Then, there's weekends; This I will call the "negative zone". A time in which, unless we have company, housework is absurdly low priority, relative to family time, church, etc.  (I always regret this on Monday, but that's beside the point) 

Please don't look down on me for my occasional disarray. We all have our strengths. Being a creative/imaginative person I tend to have my heads in the clouds, but my creativity is always driving me to teach my children and learn new ways to care for them in a healthy way. 

I have a heart like pudding and would, without question, give you the shirt off my back when you're in need, and if you're a part of my life... you ARE prayed for, daily. I think about you, constantly, BUT if you drop in on me, you may or may not walk into "order" when approaching my home.

The frank truth is that if our friendship is such that your visits depend on my order.... we won't get very far, but blessings to you anyway! :) 

 

Gabby's Turn

Now, both children have done this to me!

I blogged a while back about how I "lost" my son in walmart, because he decided he would sneak off and wait for me on a bench by the front door.


Well, now it's Gabriella's turn!!! 

This morning, I was outside with Gabriella while my husband was "hanging out" with my son, inside. 

She was contently playing and our yard is fully fenced, so I stepped away for a moment to use the bathroom. 

As I came out I heard a distant panicked squeal, so I rushed outside. 

She wasn't there!!!

I ran in the house and checked every room, calling her name, with an increasingly frantic tone. 

My husband caught on to the situation and started aiding the search. 

I ran back outside and started searching every nook and cranny while, John, proceeded the same activity indoors. 

Upon realizing that she was not in the yard and I didn't hear my husband announcing any revelation of her from indoors, my head started swimming. I began to pray...  

After what felt like forever, John finally found her hiding in the back of our closet. She was silently curled in a pile of coats. 

The minute I saw that she was fine, I surprised myself with sobs of relief. It was a combination of happiness/relief that my baby girl was fine, and also a parade of "missing child" posters running through my head. While I get to relax in the knowledge that both my children are safe and well that is not the case for far too many families.

There are families everywhere who's stories don't have "happy endings" and I can't fathom that kind of pain. A tearful prayer reaches out to any parent of any missing child anywhere.

Rejoice

 

My life is invariably chalked full of blessings and miracles. As of late, however, we have been exceptionally blessed. 

In joy and gratitude I have felt driven on occasion to overflow joy onto bystanders. This is particularly true when people venture to ask "how are you guys doing." 

The surprise comes in that you would expect people to be empathetically joyous, but I'm learning that that is against human nature.

We've all heard the phrase "misery loves company", but the other component to that is underlying envy. Not only do we crave others to be suffering, as we are, but we also resent those who seem as happy or happier than ourselves. This may be due to our instinctual compulsion for competition and/or the need to belong to a "society" similar to ourselves. 

Romans 12:15 

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." 

Of course, if you have someone in our life who is suffering, than compassion and empathy takes priority!!!
Encouragement is also a component to any relationship and joy is part of that. Not "bragging" about your accomplishments or status, but joy in what God has given you.

I challenge myself any all of us to not desire company in our misery, but instead seek and give joy.

Empathy. Encouragement. Honesty. Joy.