II Chronicles 7:14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Somebody help me!

I have had a stressful day today. It's mostly because I agreed to do some extra work for a friend and I've known about it for 2 weeks now and I've been dreading it ever since. It's nice to make some extra money but I knew it was going to take me most of the day today and it's pretty hard work. Just knowing I had it to do put me in a serious mood when I woke up this morning...meaning I had no tolerance for silliness or time-wasting (which is what kids love to do). So basically, in the words of my kids, I woke up a "grouch." Regardless, I set out to get this work done and had gotten a good start on it by 11 am when I had to go get Brooklyn from school. After we picked her up, we ran to Wal-Mart to grab some milk--and then the "fun" began. And I mean "fun" in the most sarcastic way possible. It was nothing big...just the constant bickering and fighting and whining from both of them that was putting me in a tizzy. It was only supposed to be a quick 5 minute trip to the store...but instead, they were jerking the cart back and forth, running into people and yelling loudly---which ended up making it more of like a 15 minute trip. By the time I was ready to head to the check out with my stuff, I was pretty irritated. Apparently it was obvious on my face too because an old woman walked up to me and out of the blue (in a very serious tone) said, "They are JUST kids!" and walked off. I just stood there dazed. Like huh? What? All I could figure out was that I must have looked really mad or something or maybe she had been watching from a distance while all the chaos had been going on. I don't know but it really got me to thinking...Man, I don't want to be like this anymore! The JOY of the LORD is my strength, right? Hmmm...that adds up..I don't feel like I have any strength or joy in me right now.
Why oh why do we have the answers available to us...and yet still continue to struggle with the "test" trying to figure it all out on our own? In other words, why do I insist on being superwoman with super-human strength instead of just letting go and letting God...!!?! It's so much easier said than done when you're a control-freak like I am. Hmm..I've never referred to myself as such before...but I can see the truth in it.
Anyway, the last thing I should be doing right now is sitting here at my desk blogging but I just had to for a few seconds. The poor kids have been begging for some attention all day and I still have work to do besides all the normal daily housework I should do and plus now it's dinner time and I need to figure out something for us to eat. Somebody please remind me HOW I qualified for this job?

2 comments:

Logzie said...

Oh Jen! All of us Mommies have 'been THERE'!! That old lady should not have been that way to you! Nobody is perfect all the time and apparently she has forgotten what it is like to take kids to Walmart. Oh I am so frusterated that people can be that way. Instead, she should have just come over and smiled at your and asked how you were doing and said Hi to the kids or something, that would have been much more effective! Ok, sorry to 'go off' on the old lady! I hope your day goes better. It's always hard when we have extra tasks to do...the kids tend to suffer...I have figured this out in my life recently too.

KC said...

You know, it all depends on her tone, but I don't think this old woman was trying to be rude. I think she was just lonely and thinking back to when her kids were small, and how she wished she could be in your shoes again. I think she meant it as an "enjoy them while you can sweetie, because soon they will all be grown and gone". Know what I mean? I think God sends us these people sometimes, to just open our eyes and be thankful in ever situation...even when we are at our wits end with the kids, in Wal-mart. Believe me I feel your pain. My 3 and 4 yr old boys always go with me to the store, and I am always exhausted by the time we get home. :)