Sunday, January 6, 2013

But if you WILL....


Normally Sunday's are my day to sleep in (which incidently means we are perpetually late to church). Fortunately my husband is AMAZING and always gets the boys & himself ready, allowing me to leisurely apply make-up, straighten my hair, and change clothes 3x before meeting them at the car (after they have been waiting for a good 10 minutes mind you). Yes folks, he's a saint. Well...he's on a day shift right now and is of course working Sundays, which leaves Mama alone with the 2 precious littles. In case your wondering...in the 5 weeks Jason has worked Sunday's the boys & I have made it to service twice. Let's set the stage of our morning...

I was up & ready by 7am (This is GOOD..very, very good), Cole got out of bed, immediately got dressed & brushed his teeth (we're on a roll!), I have the car started at 7:15a...all I have left is get the toddler dressed. Surely that can happen in 15 minutes, right? {chocolate donuts in the car for breakfast...we're operating on essentials only this morning ladies} And this is when it all started going downhill.....Mr. Jacob had a colossal meltdown when I went to take his PJ's off..."No Mom, my jammies, my jammies, I dress, I dress". Then he chose to kick his feet the entire time I tried to change his diaper, whopping me in the face at least twice. By the time his coat was on & zipped I had successfully sweat every ounce of my make-up off and my hair (which was last nights anyway) is now levitating far above it's intended place. By the time we reached the church parking lot Jacob was covered in chocolate donut! My dear friend who happened to be greeting this morning asked me how we were today, my response "I've realized if I was a single Mom we may never attend church again" as I continued dragging the chocolate covered beast behind me. I had one thing on my mind...drop this kid in the nursery!

As I sat down in the pew I was all but ready for my mind to wander and to not feel connected in anyway today. Then Pastor Randy read the call to worship, Psalm 9:1-2. 

will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. 
will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

{sigh} Peace. That's what I felt. I had the choice at this moment to Praise Him. I had the choice to be glad. I had the choice to Rejoice.

Sometimes it's not easy, especially during these early years of parenting. My heart reached out this morning to every single Mom out there to who faithfully does this every week. God Bless You, Mama's. It. is. hard.

Sometimes you just don't have it in you. But if you WILL, He will meet you where you are. And that's just what happened today, I was filled beyond measure. I was blessed because we pushed through. My Children were blessed because we pushed through. My husband was blessed because we pushed through. 

And now I'm off to clean chocolate out of church shirts :)

Love & Hugs, 
Jenny


6 comments:

  1. HUGS!!! I have had similar Sunday mornings with my three when I took them by myself... Trust me, you will look back and laugh in a few years!

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  2. Oh, yes, I've been there. I'm glad we serve a God who reminds us and calls us EXACTLY when we need that truth.

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  3. Too funny!! I had a hard morning too...2 out of 4 children were crying because of the cold/bumps in socks. I was flying solo too. Thanks for sharing...made me laugh out loud!:)

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  4. Thanks girls. I'm trying so hard at being more transparent in my imperfect mothering...it's hard though, you just want to hide all those rotten mornings! ha!

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  5. Oh Jenny......I just want you to know that I pray for you and all the "Mommy's" single or otherwise that go through this all the time! You made me laugh....."the chocolate covered beast"....LOL. I can just see Jacob w/chocolate on face, hands and shirt.

    God takes us to a quiet, peaceful place when we are doing His will and that is what happened to you this morning! God Bless you for "pushing through". He will continue to do that.

    I know what it is like. I did this for year w/3 kids. One who ALWAYS had his head in the clouds (the oldest, I could look him straight in the eye and ask him to help, he would say "Sure Mom", then off he would go to READ!!) My darling daughter, who was an absolute charming "angel" in front of everyone she met and knew, in church or anywhere. At home, she was the independent, screeching, smacking-her-little-brother, just so he would cry, telling me "I can do it myself" three-yr. old. Then the youngest, just a year younger than his sister, who loved to squirm, belch, and run through the house while I tried to dress him at 90 mph! He was also the littlest angel that I could get dressed, put him on the sofa and tell him..."just please stay right here while Mommy goes potty (before we headed out the door) and I wasn't in the bathroom more than 1 1/2 minutes b/c I was afraid of what would happen. I would come out and there was my littlest angel, still sitting on the sofa w/Lord knows what smeared all over his clean shirt or sweater or whatever. He was like Pigpen on Charlie Brown. Then we would head out the door and off to church. I am thinking,,,,why do I do this? What am I doing driving myself nuts every week. Then we hit the doors of the church. The kids flew to the nursery, Rob would follow me into church and I would sit down,,,,and there it was. A peace would come over me, a wonderful, gracious peace that only God could give me and all I could do was thank Him, and yes.........PRAISE HIM for His great goodness.

    He knew that is where I found peace and comfort in Him every week. That is where I needed to be and that is where He put me....every week.

    Well, my kids are all grown and have sometimes ranting, kicking, squealing, donut eating monsters (they are Grandma's angel's) of their own, but they all have told me that they appreciate the wonderful grounding in the Lord that they got at home and at church from the time they were small. They are all in church w/their families and that is where God wants them to be.

    You, my friend, will look back on this day and many others and laugh your head off when you are in your early 60's the way I am. You will thank GOD ALMIGHTY for giving you the strength to "push through" and He will smile and say..."It's okay, I made you a Mommy of these two fine young men for a very good reason...I wanted the best for them and you are it!"

    I pray that your wrestling matches and hectic ventures out into the world are few and far between. I am so glad that even now, you see the humor in it all. Being a Mom is the hardest job in the world, and sometimes the most unappreciated. Trust me, your kids will thank you for every single moment one day.

    "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

    Thanks for the laugh and sharing!!

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