Ever had one of those days?

This last week I have had zero motivation and it has taken all of my will to make myself get up and get stuff done.  So I was super excited when I woke up Thursday morning with extra energy and renewed clarity of mind.  However the rest of the world did not get the memo that since I had energy, I wanted to get stuff done.  My kids decided to be extra needy.  Then right after I swept the dining room floor, I proceeded to knock an open tin of straight pins onto the floor.  Then after I re swept and mopped that same floor, my husband walked through it with muddy boots.  So I started over to then discover that while I was cleaning that floor again, my kids found a container of toddler puffs which were now strewn all over the living room.  After cleaning that mess, while the kids were napping, I went into the basement to try and get a small sewing project completed.  But I knocked over another tin of straight pins.  Are you kidding me? 
It is days like this that it seems that dishes magically appear in the sink just as you put the last clean one away.  It also seems like a mystery to the family how the house gets so dirty and why mom can't keep up.  Isn't the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again with the same result?  Sometimes I think motherhood and insanity walk hand in hand.  But thankfully everyday is not alike and it may seem like everyday has the same result, but as mothers we are building a lasting future for our families by cleaning up all those messes.  The example we set with our determination and our attitude is molding their little minds to become strong, confident, problem solvers.  May God help us to keep a good and positive perspective.  Especially when I turn away from typing this to find my dog has gotten into the trash:)

May you find time to laugh at yourself and your circumstances -- sometimes it helps:)

Valentine's Day

February 14th used to be a day that brought dread and sorrow.  Being seemingly eternally single, I would dream of having a Valentine while sulking and cursing the day.  But in 2005 I met my first and only Valentine, my husband Jason.  I would like to say that Valentine's Day became magical from that moment on, but let me tell you a little about my husband:)  When I woke up yesterday I told him "Happy Valentine's Day", to which he responded with a grimace.  Well the romantic in me was hurt and "spirit-stomped".  His response was, "but I love you everyday, I don't need a special day to tell you that."   Well I was still hurt so I sulked for a while and looked up Valentine's blogs to get ammo for having a little chat about how Valentine's Day is important to girls regardless of what men think of it.  I found a great blog on fivelovelanguages.com which just basically told everyone to make the day special because it is good to have a day dedicated to love.  While on the site I took an assessment to find out my love language.  I discovered that I express and receive love through words of affirmation.  That is why it hurt that my husband wasn't excited about Valentine's Day.  I wanted him to gush over me with words about how much he loved, needed, and appreciated me.  But I also discovered that my husband's love language is acts of service.  I scored the lowest on that one -- ouch!  But it helped me to better understand his response to the holiday.  My husband shows his love for me and our children by going to work everyday, doing odd jobs to earn extra money, cleaning up the porch, filling my car with gas, and getting my car washed.  His actions that I used to consider everyday activities are his way of letting me know he loves me.  Now my challenge is to learn how to show him in his love language how much I love him. 
Oh and by the way, I got my wish for those mushy words:)  While my husband and I were reminiscing about how we met, he stopped and looked me in the eyes and said, "I am so glad you are in my life, you and the kids mean everything to me!"  Love tank = Full!  I love you Jason!

Marriage is Hard

My wise mother-in-law once said, "Marriage is hard. If people say it isn't, then they are lying to you!"  I haven't written a post in a few weeks because I have been in a wrestling match in my marriage.  I write this blog to be an encouragement and to bring practical advice on parenting and marriage, so I didn't want to write until I had a resolution to the problem.  Well I am hear to say that we haven't come up with a solution, but we did learn some valuable lessons along the way.  What the battle was over wasn't important but the outcome was: it is true that sometimes you really do have to agree to disagree.  I was trying desperately to help my husband see my side of the issue and he was trying just as hard to have me see his side.  I prayed to God and asked for Godly counsel and still couldn't come up with an ultimate resolution.  So what came of all of this?  We agreed to disagree, we asked God to give us grace to deal with each other and help to see the other's pain, and I asked a dear friend to be a prayer warrior for my marriage.  God never promised us all blue skies, but he did promise that he would never leave us nor forsake us.  God wants our marriages to succeed and if you ask him, He will help --  but don't for a second think it is going to be easy.  We are in a battle against unseen forces that desire our destruction.  Don't let them have your marriage.  Put on the full armor of God, ask for prayer from a prayer warrior, pray together as a couple, seek God in His word, and keep working on your marriage.  My in-laws have been married for almost 51 years that they are still learning how to treat each other and how to be better spouses.  The learning will never end and neither will the battle.  But Praise the Lord we have a strong defender on our side who has promised us victory if we stand firm!