I must say that I have some of the best life long friends around. I'm lucky enough to have had the same group of core friends (including my mom and my sister) almost all of my life. We have shared our first sleepovers, first cars, first loves, and the list of firsts could go on and on. Unfortunately this core group at this moment literally lives around the world, but because of email, skype, and cell phones we often don't feel that far apart. For this reason I had often felt unmotivated to really get close and get to know the people who surround me now; mostly my children's friend's moms whom the kids are in one activity or another together. Don't get me wrong, I loved getting to know them, I just almost left part of my heart closed to them because I felt like that "life long friend" position was already more than filled.
As my oldest started to go to preschool and do more activities and become better friends with children all of that started to change. I want to be the mom that is friends with the other moms, who is in the know about happenings at school and outside of school, and the result has been more than amazing. It has been such a blessing to get to know other moms who have the day to day struggles I have, and even more neat to notice that the kids that my kids love are the moms that I love.
There are definitely somedays when I wish I had my fabulous four standing around me at a kid's party when havoc is all around and I could just imagine what each one would say, but, thankfully God has placed even more blessings of friendships in my path that I can create "firsts" with.
As many of you know about a month ago my husband's dad fell from a ladder while putting away Christmas decorations at their church, suffering three skull fractures, broken ribs, broken collarbone, and two broken vertebrae. My husband flew immediately up north to be with him and to help his mom in any way he could. The five day trip turned into seven after Pap's condition hadn't stabilized and my hubby knew in his heart he just needed to stay a couple of extra days. That week for both of us was really hard. Hard on me for having to try and keep things "normal" for our two girls while fielding calls about updates and praying to God that Pap would pull through, and, harder on my husband who upon coming home admitted it was probably the hardest week of his life for obvious reasons. On the Saturday morning that DG was supposed to fly back home I was selfishly relieved that my partner in this life was going to be once again by my side. And so when I woke up that Saturday morning to learn that my husband's hometown had gotten something absurd like 18 inches of snow and that not only could he and his mom not make it to the end of their street, not only did they not have power, but he wasn't going on any flight and neither were the other number of passengers flying out of Pittsburgh because alas the airport was closed. As I heard all of this on the phone DG had to ask me if I was still there because I was speechless. How could God after handing us a week like that put this as icing on the cake? I felt helpless at the moment and wondered why my prayer of having my family together again wasn't answered. Soon I would be reminded, yet again, of why I'm not in control and why He always has our best interests in mind.
That afternoon after the snow plow had been down DG's childhood street, DG and his mom still without power decided to trek to the hospital where they would have power and DG would get in another visit before having to head back south when the weather cleared. Through out the week Pap's mental state was below average at best. When you have three skull fractures it is easy to see why one would be confused as to where he is, the year, and even recognizing a family member. DG and his mom expected that Saturday to be no different than the past week had been. But God had a reason for keeping my husband up north one more day and for not answering my prayer. As my husband and his dad talked that day there was significantly more recognition than there had been the whole week prior to this point, his dad even asking about our girls (his grand girls). What a high note for my husband to be able to leave on and what a difference one day made. Thank-you, God, for unanswered prayers.
It really stinks that we have to have people in this life that we don't get along with. Even the word "enemy" sounds so severe as it rolls off the tongue. I would rather spend my days thinking about the things I love most in this world; my husband, kids, and some good dark chocolate, but God must have known we were going to have our share of people step into our lives that would push our buttons for one reason or another, and luckily gave us some good instructions on how to deal with such people. Even more lucky for me is an everyday miracle that always seems to come to mind when I encounter an "enemy" in one form or another.
Before I became a full time mommy I taught fourth grade. Fourth grade (in my mind) is the perfect age to teach. Too old to have tie shoes and too young to get the sassy mouth, on most days. Of course in every class you have some strong personalities and unfortunately some teasing that coincide on some not so perfect days. This happened one day with a boy and a girl in my class who had never gotten along particularly well, escalating to the point that notes were sent home, feelings were hurt, and I was still wondering how/if the issue would resolve itself the next day. I was prepared for more counseling the next morning, and planning on a class meeting to help smooth over the argument from the day before and to make sure it didn't ruin a second day of learning and a happy classroom environment.
As the two entered my classroom the next day I said a prayer that all would go well. Little did I know that God was about to use the lesson a set of parents taught their daughter the night before to help not only "A," but the 25 others of us in that room learn first hand about loving your enemy, a lesson I will never forget.
The girl walked over to A's desk, pulled out some activity books she had brought for this boy, along with a new set of pens, and a picture she had drawn for him. "A" looked at "J" with a look I will never forget. His eyes grew soft and an innocent smile came across his face. I think I had to look twice to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me as they hugged.
Thank God I was blessed enough to have in my class a set of parents who go by the same rule book as I do and had taught their child the best way to deal with an enemy, better than any class meeting would.
"It wasn't supposed to happen that way." It definitely doesn't seem like it should have happened that on what was supposed to be a date night for my husband and I turned into my husband flying up north to be by his dad's side in the trauma unit. And in the days that have followed since my mind has tried to reason that things should not have happened that lead up to that horrific accident, although my heart tries its best to remind me that we are not to understand all things. Thankfully for all of us, that "it wasn't supposed to happen that way" works both ways, negative and positive, and as my mind was coming to grips about the latest hand our family had been dealt God sent down an everyday miracle not a moment to soon.
My day had been heavy with worry; worry about my father -in-law, my mother-in-law, and how we were ever going to find strength to pull through this one smiling. Thankfully I have two little girls to keep my mind off of things, one who was anxious to get to the Dollar Store to spend her hard earned $2 that her daddy had given her after helping out at home. I ended up picking up a few extra things and M gave me her money and tossed her goodies in with my things. I paid with my debit card and tucked M's money in my wallet. Unknown to me, this was just a small piece of the puzzle that God was shaping for my personal miracle. We got home after twenty minutes of sitting in traffic and it was clear that we all needed our outside playtime. The day was really beautiful and we were being silly (much needed) taking turns hula hooping. As it was M's turn she began spinning with the hula hoop instead of just doing the hip action and found better success at it that way. As she started to twirl around a second time she tripped and started falling back, and as she did the purple hula hoop came up and smacked her in the mouth. As soon as I looked at her I knew something was amiss, her scared eyes giving her away. As she opened her mouth I saw what the matter was. Her front tooth was missing, and not just any front tooth. The front tooth that her dentist had told us not even a few months ago was attached improperly and would never come out on its own and would have to be removed when the other front tooth fell out. Coming out with a hula hoop? Wasn't supposed to happen that way...
In the moment my next thought was that the hula hoop had come directly to her mouth forcing her tooth inward, logically making me think M had swallowed her tooth.
"M, did you swallow your tooth?," "Mommy won't be mad, I just need to know," "The tooth fairy will still come honey, just tell mommy if you think you swallowed your tooth," comments followed for about thirty seconds until we were all pretty clear she hadn't swallowed her tooth, and, after searching through the grass and finding one lost front tooth we all were thankful that she indeed hadn't swallowed her front tooth. If the hula hoop came directly to her mouth, how did the tooth escape the other way? It wasn't supposed to happen that way...
Much later that evening M was laying in bed and I got a call from the tooth fairy that I needed to fill in for her on last minute change of plans. The bad news is that I never carry cash and she told me the running rate for M was $2 a tooth. I wasn't supposed to have $2 folded perfectly waiting for their glitter aka pixie dust application, but I did.
Thank-you God for everyday miracles that make us say, it wasn't supposed to happen that way.
Being a stay home mom is the BEST job in the world for me, it is my calling, but that doesn't mean it is always easy, stress free days, filled with eating bon bons. These hard days usually coincide with my husband's travel schedule, the more days he is gone things seem to build up, adding up to a hard days work. Last week I was having one of these days. It didn't help that the weather had been rotten and we hadn't gotten out of the house in a few days, whatever the reason I was on edge, the kids were testing me, and my husband couldn't get home from his 8 day trip soon enough.
As I was cooking dinner that evening my not so good day turned into something of a pity party, wishing my husband was home to help, wishing I could have but a moment of peace. As soon as I am having these moments more often than not the man upstairs will find a way of putting things into perspective for me. My reality check was the thud I heard coming from the great room and the wail of my daughter. My one year-old had climbed up onto the loveseat and had slipped of, thankfully only having a small bruise on her cheek to show for it. Oh it could have been so much worse, giving me something truly worthwhile to worry about. With that the pity party ended and the thankful prayers began, the first one being a prayer of thanks of the ways He has of keeping me in check and aware of just how blessed and protected I am.
We do reward our children for jobs well done, and, on occasion we bribe them. As M's preschool Christmas program loomed before us,
I began having visions of last minute breakdowns, shyness kicking in full gear, and other not so pleasant thoughts. M is now five years old and honestly has blossomed into a direction following, kind to new people (and new situations) kind of girl. Unfortunately, this hasn't always been the case. We had our fair share of meltdowns and stubbornness in her toddler years that still haunt me as planned events such as a preschool programs come up. So, I do the only thing I know and talk her up, over prepare her, and let her know a treat awaits her if she does the best she can.
The program went off without a hitch with M remembering every word to every Christmas carol and twirling at the exact time all of the other sugar plum fairies were. And so on the way home M knew that she had earned a beloved "treat." Wouldn't it be nice if children wanted 20 minutes of quiet time for their treat, or maybe a scone from a coffee shop? This is not the case with either of my children, so at precisely 11:50 am, off we went to the golden arches for a reward lunch. I prepared myself for semi-warm fries, cleaning off crumbs from a table before we sat down, and a balancing act to get the tray of food to the nearest booth. Nothing could have been further from the truth for our experience there that day.
Critics will say someone was being overly friendly, but I know differently. The manager of the restaurant made us feel as though we were having a four star dining experience. He personally took our order, told us to go sit down that he understood a young mother trying to handle two children with carrying food was no easy task, brought extra napkins, brought extra toys, and the list went on. This manager wished everyone who left the restaurant a Merry Christmas and really tried to be helpful to others, but in so many of the cases people were too busy to notice.
Blessings are mentioned countless times in the bible. God wants us to be blessed, sending down blessings and grace like rain ( to quote one of my favorite Christian songs). Since starting this blog on everyday miracles my eyes have really been opened as to what He is doing for Us, everyday, are yours?
I am a woman of little patience. My husband knows this well, my children know this well. I crave to have things done on time, in order, and the moment I say so. Although my husband may disagree, I AM working on it! I work on it when I am in a slow moving line at the grocery store, when we have slow service out at a restaurant, but mostly what puts my bum in gear on working on it is when I see the same trait appearing in my children, not a good feeling to know you are responsible for that. How do I work on patience? Honestly, it has worked more on me. After I read that God's timing is always perfect and really thought about it, it stuck with me. When a babysitter wasn't right on time, that scripture came to mind and instantly soothed me. Who am I to argue with Him about timing of things? When my husband isn't home right on time, obviously the Man Upstairs had bigger plans for him at the moment than helping to cut chicken into bite size pieces for a one year-old. I have tried to instill this scripture into my children, reminding them that when things don't happen on their time it is ok.
Amazingly enough, as I have repeated this mantra in my head, something crazy has happened. More and more moments of Thank-you God for amazing timing have happened, and less of "why is this not happening my way?" moments have come to pass, small miracles.
One of these miracles came as an early Christmas miracle. It had been raining for the past week (who am I kidding? probably the past 13 days) in our state and finally this day the sun was shining!! The girls and I broke free of the house to soak in some much needed vitamin D. On my mind were thoughts of some of Santa's presents that were to be delivered early from the workshop and how I was going to get everything done as December 25th quickly approached. As the UPS man came to a halt at our driveway I wasn't too anxious knowing my oldest isn't a fluid reader yet, so any package from Santa I could play off as something for Daddy's work. The UPS man came down off of the truck and informed me that for some reason Santa had put a picture of the play kitchen on one side of the box it had come in and as he said this, glanced to my two girls playing in the front yard. He then when onto to say that he could put the large box (one that I couldn't slide, let alone carry) picture side down in the corner of our garage.
As he excited the garage I literally gave him a high five (the high five is still cool on most given days) and said God bless, and meant every word of it, God's amazing timing just filled up our yard. Think about it. If it had been raining, no way would I have let any man into our home to hide a box without my husband home, and the other consequence would have been some magic being stolen and Santa and I having to cover our tracks rather quickly as to why two little girl's play kitchen hadn't come on Santa's sleigh. No doubt about it, an everyday miracle. THANK-YOU, GOD, FOR YOUR PERFECT TIMING.
I must say that I have some of the best life long friends around. I'm lucky enough to have had the same group of core friends (including my mom and my sister) almost all of my life. We have shared our first sleepovers, first cars, first loves, and the list of firsts could go on and on. Unfortunately this core group at this moment literally lives around the world, but because of email, skype, and cell phones we often don't feel that far apart. For this reason I had often felt unmotivated to really get close and get to know the people who surround me now; mostly my children's friend's moms whom the kids are in one activity or another together. Don't get me wrong, I loved getting to know them, I just almost left part of my heart closed to them because I felt like that "life long friend" position was already more than filled.
