Saturday April 29 Peace, Solitude & a Busy Day

A few days ago, during a particular crazy moment when I was stretched really thin, I asked God to give me peace.  I asked Him to point out moments when the kids were being particularly loving to one another, to cast a big ol' neon blinking light down, pointing out times of peace & calmness in my own life and to help me teach the children to love each other more.  (Not that they hate each other, but I sure do spend a lot of time playing referee!)

That night, I had to drive to Brookshire's about 9:00.  I took the "long way" out of our neighborhood, going down to the end of the street & coming back up the street that runs parallel to ours.  For some reason, I got the crazy idea to roll down the windows.  I normally don't do this b/c the wind blows & messes up my hair which is usually fixed when I'm on the way to some destination.  That night, I didn't really care about my hair, so I rolled down the windows.  As I reached the end of our street, the cool night air in my nostrils & blowing in my face had soothed me.  When I rounded the end of the street where there is nothing but trees (no houses on that part of the road), I could hear the crickets chirping & tree frogs singing.  Ahhh....beautiful & so calming.  I grew up in the country, so hearing those sorts of sounds is a comforting, quieting thing for me.  And then it hit me....God was giving me some solitude & peace right then & there.  I considered parking the van & just sitting to listen to the sounds of nature for a while but decided to go on & get done at the store.  The road was particularly free of cars that evening so I could hear the silence & calmness all the way to the store & back.  Very soothing & satisfying for this busy, hustle-bustle heart of mine.

Then it happened again.  I ran to Walgreen's late one night to pick up a prescription for Larry.  When I got there, it wasn't ready yet, so I spent about 15 minutes in the massage chair that they're selling.  Ahhhh.....very relaxing!  It's just a little pad thing you put on an existing chair, but I have told Larry a couple of times lately that THAT is what I want for my Mother's Day/Birthday/Christmas/Thanksgiving (WHATEVER!) present this year.  I figure for $99, he can get it & let it serve many gift-giving purposes.  :)

It's just neat to see how God answers the prayers of a frazzled mommy's heart in little ways like these.  I have family & friends telling me that I need some time away (a day, overnight, etc) to have some time for me.....but I believe that if God keeps providing little retreats like these, I can get by for a long time without a big retreat.  I'm looking forward to Women of Faith in August.....but until then, He's providing & I'll be ok!  Thank you, Lord for the small blessings you provide!

As far as the prayers for the kids to get along better....well, that's started happening, too.  The moments aren't quite as bold & memorable as my moments of "retreat", but seeing the kids interact in the past few days has been interesting.  Seeing how they'll start out to snap at one another & then stop themselves and change their tone....or how one will take up for another....it's heartwarming.  I love my kiddies.  (All of 'em!)

Today was a busy one!  Blast Ball started at 10:00 & wasn't over til 12:00.  By the time we got everyone home & lunch ready it was 12:40.  (My kids are used to eating around 11-11:30, but somehow they survived til nearly 1:00!  ha ha)  We got everyone fed & down for naps/quiet time, Savannah went to a friend's house to play for a little while and then we got everyone up & picked her up & went to see a movie!  We saw "RV".  It was really cute!  There were a few bad words, but overall it was good.  Robin Williams is the main character & plays the busy, workaholic dad.  Because of a problem at work, he has to cancel his (very rich & spoiled) family's Hawaiian vacation and take them to Colorado with him instead.  He gets the bright idea to rent an RV & make a big "bonding experience" out of it.  He takes down the brick pillars to his own home & a few other things on the way out of his neighborhood in this giant green RV.  The rest of the movie is about the hysterical adventures he has in this enormous RV.  Of course there are serious moments, but it's mostly just a funny show that older kids & teens will love.  (I say older kids b/c of the language here & there throughout the movie & a few innuendos that are made.)  We started out to see Ice Age2, but there weren't enough seats left in the theater for us to get in when we got there.  When we returned from the movies, it was time to clean up the bedrooms, eat supper, bathe & head to bed.  Nothing like a full day from start to finish.

:::Yawn:::  Time for me to head to bed!