I think this is pretty but if only bath time was as calm and sweet as this photo implied.

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Today I am linking up with…

Kathryn over at Team Whitaker for Week in My Life 2014. (See my Monday here.)

Cari over at Clan Donaldson for Theme Thursday: Lean. (Scroll down to the last photo.)

The lovely ladies over at Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}.

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No school + Target run = One happy boy.

Okay, I have to admit that Tuesday was uneventful. I am seriously sitting here thinking what in the world did I do that day? Well, there was only one moment that stands out in my mind. On Monday the three older kids had the day off to celebrate Veteran’s Day. Matthew’s pre school has done the same for years. Well, I did not check the pre school calendar to see that THIS year they get Tuesday off instead of Monday. So it was the usual morning routine of getting the older kids off to their school then getting Matthew off to pre school. However, when I arrived there were no cars and all the lights were off. A quick check to the online pre school calendar showed my mistake. Sigh. So much for my pre-planning. Oh well, that just meant that Matthew had to come with me on my morning shopping challenge where I hit four stores within two hours – Costco, Target, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. He loved it.

The rest of the day was a blur so let’s move on to…Yeah, it’s funny now but it wasn’t then! And the drawer was open just enough for the sauce to drip in and dirty the dish towels.

Okay, mama said there would be days like this. At first, it seemed like an ordinary day with me going about my business when some time in the late morning, there was a shift and everything started going wrong. Now, nothing major, mind you, but you know those crazy little things – spilled food, unrolled toilet paper, kid with a marker and a wall, broken dish, toys everywhere, brothers fighting, kids screaming, boys that can’t aim in the toilet, dirty behinds to wipe, and laundry and dishes that you swear your neighbors sneak into your house because there’s no way one family could make that much mess!

Maybe it was the fact that the kids had only a 1/2 day of school. Maybe because it was raining and they couldn’t go outside. Maybe because I have so little patience and I groan and rant when things are not going right. Whatever, it was no buneo. I somehow managed to get dinner on the table early, even though I had no time to eat myself because I had to get Bella to her youth group on time that night.

After dropping Bella off, I pulled out my little finger rosary to say say a decade, asking God to help me calm down. I started thinking about Mary and told her, “You know, Blessed Mother, sometimes it drives me nuts that I am supposed to be all calm and humble like you. I’m not like you. I am not ‘let it be done unto me…’ I’m more, ‘What the @#$% is going on?!’ How am I supposed to relate to you when I am the opposite of you?”

Then I thought about my own kids and all the naughty moments they have throughout the day. Do I love them any less because they misbehave? No. Do I have the desire to jump off the bunk bed and land on my little brother? No, but just because I am not tempted to do that doesn’t mean I love my kiddo any less or that I’m incapable of helping him correct his behavior. The same thing with our heavenly Mother. She doesn’t have to experience the same temptations in order to love us and and help us.

Mary is my Mother and she is constantly lifting my head and looking at me in the eye and saying, “Why are you being so disobedient to your Father? Does he not love you unconditionally? Do you not want to return that love to him?” Sigh. Of course, I do.

Like a loving and good mother that lets you lean on her, Mary hugs me and points me right back to where I should be – at the feet of Jesus. So I turned my heart back to God and asked for his forgiveness for being so self-centered and bratty. I asked for his mercy and shed a few tears of thanks for bringing peace to my heart once again.  God is good. All the time.

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