Note to self...
Try not to get angry at the blueberries that you just found squished in the carpet. In a few short years your carpets will be sparkling, your house will be erie quiet and all of a sudden you'll wish there was just one little blueberry squished into your carpet... evidence that your home is full of life.
Note to self...
Savor the simple. It's not the big things that change the inner walls of your heart. It's the belly laughter and thirty seconds of giggles out of each treasure each night before the lights go out as you tickle each one to sleep. It's the undeserved forgiveness given to this Mama of many faults from a little treasure who knows how to forgive better than any adult I know. It's the forty toes on the feet of our four little treasures that are able to jump, run, dance, and skip through these years of childhood bliss. It's the soft brush of his man hands resting gently on your waist as he kisses you crazy in the kitchen and the treasures look on in wonder, and oldest girl asks, "What are you doin, Papa?" To which he replies, "Just lovin on your Mama," before he kisses you crazy all over again.
Savor the simple.
Note to self...
Don't clean your life away. I know you like a clean house and all. But when your treasures look back on their childhood do you want them to remember that their house was excessively clean,or that together you spent your days in pure wonder of His creation, pure delight in the gift of this one life that you've been given.
Self... please choose the latter.
Note to self...
When he leaves his dishes from a late dinner in the sink after you just wiped clean the last of the dirty counters for the third time that day, take a deep breath, make a list and remind yourself of how you fell in love with him in the first place.
When you're beat tired from a long day with many small children and he walks in from his long day and he needs a nap... give him a gentle kiss on the forehead, thank him for working so hard for your little family, and as he walks into the bedroom and closes the door behind him, remind yourself of all the times that he's so graciously done the same for you. Do unto others as you would desire them to do unto you.
Note to self...
Don't give up on this journey... This day to day battle for joy that you find yourself in. Fight with all your might. It's one of the few battles worth fighting for. And at the end of the day, if you ask the Lord to give you eyes that see, you'll only experience wildest grace falling on you like rain, soaking you to the marrow, washing your mistakes white as snow, bringing hope to your home full of broken sinners who are trying so fervently to be Christ with skin on to one another. The road is narrow, but the blessings are vast.
Note to self...
You are loved with an extravagant, selfless love... Love like that. Be vulnerable. Love without fear. Give yourself completely to those you love most... fervent love is never a waste of a life.
(Ephesians 5 The Message)
