Love Is Not Irritable: FAIL

The first day of summer has finally arrived.  Ahhhhhh... We are all home.  I'm ready to spend time with my favorite people.  So, the day started like this:  I woke up early and went for a walk/jog.  Then, I came home and studied my devotion for the day.  I'm working through a 6 week study on I Corinthians 13.  The verse I was studying in depth today...

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

5 or rude.  It does not insist on its own way;

it is not irritable or resentful.

And the question is...Is there anything that needs to change?

                                  What is the Lord leading me to do as a result of this passage?

Well of course I need to change the fact that I am irritable and honestly can be resentful at times.  That's it God.  That's what I'm going to change.  The Lord is leading me to speak kindly to my family.  Ok, let's do this!  I'm all in today.

-one child is on the wii

-one child is on the ipad

-breakfast dishes are still on the table

-chairs are not pushed in

-dirt has been walked throughout the kitchen

-the boy has talked or been drumming on things since her arose from his slumber

-an empty coffee cup rests on the floor beside the couch

-toys are covering the floor of the room I had perfect at bedtime last night

-laundry that I washed and folded is sorted and still laying all over the loveseat

-suitcase from kids weekend trip is still full in the bedroom floor

-dirty socks are on the living room floor

-shut the door has already been said 5 million times today so I'm exaggerating a little, but it certainly feel like 5 million

The list goes on, and on, and on...

I am IRRITATED!

And I'm a little resentful of the fact that I try so hard to keep things in order to make our lives a little more simple and NO ONE seems to care.  By 10 am I am quoting I Cor. 13:5 in my head and reminding myself what I told God this morning.  By noon I was nagging everyone in my house.  By 6 pm I had lost all sense of control so I sent myself to my bedroom for the rest of the night.  I went to bed angry while everyone else sat and watched a movie together.

We are now starting the second day of summer break.  I slept well last night.  I woke to laundry still piled on the loveseat.  There was no I'm sorry to greet me.  The boy hasn't stopped talking since he got out of bed.  Life continues today as if nothing ever happened.  So, here we go again Lord.  I'm working on it.  I really am.  Please, help me do better today.

Scripture Application

My dear oldest child--I love the way she thinks.

Her memory verse from Wednesday night church activities was: He who can be trusted with little can be trusted with quite a lot.  On the way to school this morning that great mind of hers was working.  She asked me, "Mom, do you think if daddy had a really nice, brand new car that he would take care of it and keep it clean?"  "I don't know," was my reply.  She giggled and said, "He who can be trusted with little can be trusted with quite a lot.  Nope, I don't think it would matter."  We enjoyed quite a laugh at daddy's expense.  Sorry, we love you in spite of your sloppiness. Daddy.

Name Confusion

We went out to dinner tonight.  Ahhhh...no cooking for mom. Yippee!  As we sat at our table talking my big girl started questioning my little diva about who she loved.  The answer was the typical daddy, mommy, sissy, bubba...  Then, oldest said in all seriousness, "I love John Boe."  We looked at her a little puzzled.  Then she said, "I love John Boe and Jane Boe."  That time I got it.  I began laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my cheeks.  My sweet love looked at me questioning.  I had to catch my breath.  He said, "I don't get it.  Who are these people?" 
John Doe and Jane Doe

We had ourselves quite a laugh.

Little League Parenting

Preseason baseball tournament started last night.  I love watching my boy play ball.  I have never enjoyed watching baseball.  But I LOVE watching my boy.  But I must be honest.  I was not looking forward to last nights game.   In fact, I was very tempted to stay home. Have a really turned into one of those little league parents. We've got some very nice boys on our team.  But athletic ability isn't quite there.  I know think I know why this happened.  I really think God is trying to teach me something.  I've already been struggling thinking about what the other boys at school would say when they "kill us" in baseball.  I've already been struggling with my attitude when they talk about how their team has four all star players or how good they are.  I know it's not about winning.  I know it's not about being the best ball player.  In fact, the sermon Sunday was about Passion and Purpose. " Is you purpose to raise your kid to be the best ball player in the league or is it to raise your kid to love and serve the Lord with everything in him?"  Ouch, that hurt.  It hit me right between the eyes.  So, as I struggle with my attitude throughout this season I know my purpose is to teach my child how to show love in every situation.  My purpose is to teach him about attitude.  My purpose is to teach him that when others say unkind things our reaction should be that which would be pleasing to our King.  It's not going to easy.  I must watch my every expression and word.  I know he is watching and will learn by witnessing my every move. 

My tough baseball player is full of love.

Jellybeans and Roses

Somehow the kids and I started talking about jellybeans on Easter after all the festivities (church, lunch, and Easter egg hunt).  I started telling them about how my Grandma Betty liked jellybeans.  So, we decided to pay a visit to her grave.  We took some jellybeans with us and some roses from our yard.  As we got close to the graveyard Laura said, "We have to wear our pants crooked for Grandma Betty."  Grandma always had the middle seam of her pants twisted in some way or another and it has been a great source of laughter for us.

So here stand my silly kiddos with jellybeans, roses, and twisted pants for their Great Grandma Betty.

We love you Grandma Betty and we miss you.  We hope you enjoyed the jellybeans and roses we left for you.

While we were there we decided that their Great Great Grandma Ruby needed some jellybeans, too.

So, we dug a small hole and buried jellybeans just for her.

and we arranged some on her headstone.

It's great to remember and share stories of those that have gone before us, those that are partially responsible for our exsistence and took a part in molding our family into what it is today.

Spring "Break"

So much to say. Been avoiding posting all week as I really want to share the good things happening. But here goes...Worst. Spring. Break. Ever.
-spent the first 3 days of break moving everything we own
-moved into temporary housing (2 weeks in gpa and gma's empty house) Didn't think it would bother me, but it has struck many emotions within me. I sure do miss my gma!
-attempted to make choc chip cookies while my love was working hard on moving the last few heavy things. Oven doesn't work. 25 minutes on 500 degrees and chips were just beginning to melt.
-F1 tornado went thru the neighborhood of the house we were scheduled to close on Thursday. Neighbors all had a single tree down. Not us. We're pretty "special" apparently. 5 trees down for us. But hey, we made the news.
-$500 going to stump removal now on a property we no longer own
-doing laundry at the temporary housing when toilet starts gurgling and nastiness comes up from the bath drain
Let's just say that if my kids weren't watching I would have curled up in a corner and cried. Now I'm sitting around looking at boxes. Can't find anything but will be moving again in a week and a half (Lord willing). So, I don't dare unpack anything.
I'm grumpy, moody, and frustrated. I'm working on a very short fuse.
But God loves me and walks with me in spite of it all. Thanks for not throwing in the towel on me God.

OCD

I am a creature of habit. I like to know what's going to happen. I like for things to be organized and settled. Clutter is not my friend! I do admire those that look past it and call it life. I want to relax enough to let things go. But I'm a bit OCDone who likes organization. Everything has a place and everything in it's place. In fact, I recently read a quote that was so true of who I am at times. "I have CDO. It's like OCD but the letters are in alphabetical order as they should be. Funny to read but often frustrating to live. Frustrating for my husband and kids as I nag and insist that things be put away properly. I need to let go. I need to let my kids live and enjoy. I've often read another quote, "Excuse the mess. We're busy making memories." How many memories have I allowed myself to miss out on because things weren't tidy? Grrr! It's embarrasing to think about and quite disappointing. So, I'm going to try to let loose a bit. Allow creativity in my children that is not limited to "clean" creativity. Let loose and live. Enjoy! Laugh! For the clutter will still be there tomorrow, but the ones I love might not.