Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Grace to Face Adventure

Have you seen the orange juice commercial where the mom sits at the breakfast table and people from her day are there to give her a report of the mishaps of the day to come? The principal reports he will be calling about her son, co-worker says there is a problem at the office, other plans change.... Then she says something like, "It's a good thing I had my OJ to face the day."


We don't get a morning briefing or a map of our day. Actually, it is probably a good thing because there are days that if I had known what was coming, I would have just crawled back in bed! Here is one such day...


About 3 years ago, my youngest son was 2 and he woke me up early. He was wet from head to toe! I striped him down, cleaned him up, and got a new diaper. Then I went to his room to change the sheets, but his bed was completely dry. How could he be that wet and his bed be totally dry? About that time my daughter said, "Eew!" as she leaned on big brother's bed. Evidently, my youngest son crawled in my older son's bed after he went to school, and went back to sleep. So I started stripping the bed and cleaning the carpet. I went into my bathroom to get a rag for the carpet job and found my 2 year old spraying bathroom cleaner all over the bathroom! I finally got ALL that cleaned up and got breakfast ready. Thankfully I had just put the lid back on the very full bottle of purple grape juice because it got pushed off the cabinet! Then my daughter proceeded to spill the milk in her cereal. To which I responded in a loud, stern, frustrated mom voice, "Sit down, eat your breakfast, and stop goofin' off!" My daughter replied in a loud, stern, frustrated daughter voice, "Is that the way you talk to your daughter?" (Yes, it is going to get very interesting at our house in a few years!)


We finally made it through breakfast. My mom called to tell me something (more on that in a minute). While I was reading about that online, I heard sounds in the bathroom. I found my youngest picking up a wad of toilet paper out of the potty, squeezing it, and dropping it back in the potty. I really think he dropped it because I scared him when I yelled, "Gross! Gross! Gross!" (I'm praying it was clean water that he put clean paper in!) Got that all cleaned up...again gross! Later I was holding him and kissed his forehead and his hair was wet. I thought Oh, I hope that was just sweat! And it wasn't even lunchtime yet!


The phone call from my mom was to see if I had heard about Steven Curtis Chapman's family. His baby daughter, Maria, who just turned 5 was killed in a car accident. Their story was so similar to my family's that I was just sad all day and cried several times. As I recounted my day to my husband, I laughed about it. And then I cried because I'm sure my Mom, as well as the Chapman family, would treasure another potty diving day, and I spent the day being frustrated with my kids. It was definitely one of those days that I would have crawled back in bed had I known what was coming!


But we do know the One who sees it all and knows what is coming, and He gives us the grace to face whatever may come. Stephen Curtis Chapman has a song that says, "To Him the future is history." Our Heavenly Father invites us to meet with Him each morning, so He can remind us how much He loves us and give us direction for life. Then no matter what adventure may come in the day, we can say, "It is a good thing I have my Jesus to face the day."

Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in You.
Show me the way I should go,
for to You I lift up my soul.
Psalm 143:8
Posted by Shelly, Mom and Loving It Ministries Assistant

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