Today I’m home with sick kids. And out-of-school-for-snow kids.
I’m tired already. Tired from leaping out of bed to rush a spewing child to the bathroom. Tired of scrubbing the floor, the carpet, the couch (but thankful for leather!). Tired of lifting and shoving yucky clothes, blankets, pillows, and sock monkeys in and out of the washer and dryer. Tired of watching How to Train Your Dragon. (Soooo tired of that one.) And it’s only day 1.
And Day 1 is Thankful on a Thursday.
“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)
Today I am thankful for time. Time to snuggle on the couch. Time to fix pedialyte juice pops. Time to rock in the rocking chair and sing songs and give yet another bath to get the yucky off. It’s funny, but as a working mom, these times are special to me. Times when I can prove (to myself!) that I’m wholly committed to my little blessings. Times when it’s me that soothes their hurts, kisses their sweaty little foreheads, and fix their plain toast with a teeny-tiny bit of butter. “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5: 15-16)
I am thankful for motherhood. Thankful to be called out of myself for others. Thankful to be forced above and beyond my own interests (which, right now, would be sleep). To be pushed to give when I would like to take. To be refined by fire, rather than wallowing in the muck of my own weaknesses and selfishness. In some ways even marriage can’t call you on the carpet like motherhood does. You know your spouse is a sinner, (believe me, you’re well aware!) and you can feel sinfully justified in your own selfishness because they, too, are sinful and self-sufficient. But your children are innocent, even when they do sin. (Oh yes, they’re little sinners too!) You can look into their eyes and see that they don’t fully understand the consequences of their behavior and actions yet. I am thankful that their innocence calls me to be a better person. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” (1 John 4:7)
And, as always, I am thankful for the Bible. For the resounding truth. For the unending revelations. For the Word, who is with us and within us. For a God that is for us when everyone is against us. Who will not suffer me to be moved from Him. Who will not allow me to be plucked from His hand. Who will never leave me, nor forsake me. Who is there with me, scrubbing the floor at 2 am, or fixing more juice at 3 am, or pouring another bath at 4 am. Who is teaching me to love others even when I think I can’t, because He loves me.
Psalm 121
I will lift up mine eyes until the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and they coming in from this time forth and even for evermore.
What are you thankful for today? Leave me a comment or link up at The Tarr Pit and tell everyone!
