On Saturday morning, two small tornadoes blew through nearly every room they could run and crawl in to. Every dinosaur Jake owns was no longer extinct but roaming his room instead, destroying everything in its path, and Baby was close behind. Every basket in their shared toy closet was touched, and I hugged our heating pad for several hours while Parker napped and while Jim worked at the Bryant Conference Center. We kept our date night as planned (long, long overdue) and dropped the boys off at James and Tonya's late that afternoon. We had dinner at Mugshots and bought books at Barnes and Noble and milk at Wal-mart. A real date (except for the milk run maybe). We used to go to the book store and just sit and read for hours back in the day. Absolutely one of my favorite things we used to do - so this was my idea, and Mugshots for dinner was his.
And then there’s Sunday. Jake was dressed, and I was still in the process. He sat on our bathroom floor mumbling about the lack of time he has to play at home, he was hatin’ on the jacket he was wearing, and his jeans were “…jus' rubbing me.” and then finally (totally saving the best for last on this one) he said, “I jus' wish today wasn’t a day we had to go to church.” I’d give anything for the words to come and fill in the gap between this sentence and the next, but they don’t. I just can’t explain the feelings of failure that came over me. Have I not been faithful enough? Or consistent enough? I cried while I drove, and we chatted about why it’s so important in a way he could understand. We got there, and he sang and shook an entire package of Mentos like a Polaroid picture until three of them went rolling across the floor three aisles over, and he blew up Treehouse like it was a birthday party. I love that he loves it once he settles in; but I especially love what our guest speaker shared. “Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. If I do all of these things today, I will give thanks to the One who enabled me. And if I don’t, I’ll ask for His grace. And when the day is done, I’ll lay my head on my pillow to rest, and I’ll ask Him for another day.” Oh Lord, make me a better example of You. And give me Your grace as I train these two precious little lives you’ve entrusted me with in the way they should go.
Monday came and with it an extra vote of confidence - an extra nine hours of parenting we aren't ordinarily allowed during a normal work week because it was a holiday. Our morning consisted of returning Bridesmaids to the Blockbuster box at Publix, shopping at Wal-mart and Sam's quickly, and haircuts for Jim and Jake. We napped, and the golf course called their names while Parker and I bought two 2 x 2 squares of plywood at Lowe's. And when his day was finally over, two purple pipe cleaners were added to a red paper lantern (antennas, of course, on the Very Hungry Caterpillar), and I cut out a pear and an orange with our jigsaw (doing the cabbage patch while I type this because I did this all by my lonesome) and painted them in their designated green and orange while Jake painted one of the holes I cut out so a bean bag can be tossed through each one.
As for the rest of the week, the grind returned on Tuesday. And today we're half way there.
Bring on the weekend already, eh?!
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