What I Learned This Summer

If you read my previous post, you'll remember this was the summerthatflewby. Yes, it has been jam packed with fun activities, one right after the other.

When you have a lot going, sleep tends to be hard to come by. I love mornings unless I'm behind on sleep. Then getting up with the alarm can be a real chore. Fumbling through breakfast, waking tired kids, or letting them sleep, trying to catch up on housework, all makes for a crazy schedule and many days I felt pretty far from the organized person I usually am.

Somehow, in the midst of all this, I would find myself thinking, "Now the virtuous woman would have read her Bible and prayed for an hour, all before 7 AM, even if she was sleep deprived, and you're just getting breakfast cleared away and it's mid morning." (or later!)

"But I can't! I'm too tired!" And then I'd argue with myself.

That's when I heard the soft whisper of "Grace, my child."

Ah, grace. It's the 'in' word these days, I know. Some of you hate it. Some of you get it. Some of you don't. Someday my husband will guest blog for me and put it in his own words, which is the way I understand it best. (He always says, "If you think grace is a license to sin, you don't truly understand it.")

And since I can't do anything to earn love from Jesus, not even reading my Bible or praying for an hour, I'll just soak the love up while I do the laundry, I'll see Him smile on me when I read to Brooke, I'll feel Him chuckle when I sit and listen to my big kids tell jokes, I'll sense His arms around me when I'm having a particularly stressful day, and I'll stop placing conditions on myself to get Jesus to perform.

Before I change the subject, I must tell you my Cato story.

It was one of the last days of our family vacation. We were motel-ing in Harrison, OH and taking in the Creation Museum. The first night at that motel, I sat at the pool with the children so Leon could enjoy some quiet time. The next night was my turn. The plan was that I would drive down the street to Pizza Hut and order a pizza for our supper. But I had about 45 minutes of free time before that. So Leon heads to the pool, and I'm alone in our beautiful, apartment-sized motel room for 45 blissful, quiet minutes. I have my Bible and a great devotional book along, but first I turn on the TV to see if anything good was on. I found a silly chick flick and turned off my brain and relaxed. Suddenly, I noticed the time, so I grabbed the keys and my wallet and headed out the door. At Pizza Hut I was told I had to wait about 15 minutes for my order, so I decided to go see what this town has in it. The entire trip I kept telling Leon that I'd LOVE to find a Cato, since we don't have one real close. So I'm driving down the road talking to God out loud, and I said, "I know I wasn't a very good girl today, God. I should have been  reading my Bible or praying back at the motel during my alone time. I'd love to find a Cato but I don't deserve it-" I was literally mid sentence when I saw it. A Cato sign. I started to cry. I felt God as real that moment as I ever have in my life. I felt Him saying, "You think you get good things in exchange for performing well. That's not how I work. I love you regardless of your choices." Let's just say, I have a new favorite shirt and skirt from Cato that day; I like to think of them as my extra special gifts from God. That's grace, folks.

********************************************************************************
Today the children and I went to pick out a puppy for our family. Meet Prince. He's all cute and roly-poly, but completely terrified of the cats. I suppose that will change soon enough. Let's just hope he trains easily, because training children is hard enough, much less a puppy.

 And here are my cute pig-tailed girls!

Bask in the father's Love. It'll change your life!