It was one of those days. You know. The kind where nothing goes right. At least it felt that way to me. It wasn't really that way. There were lots of things that did go right, and I have way more to be thankful for than to complain about. But you understand. You have been there too.
I got up this morning. It was hard to hold my eyes open long enough to read my First 5 devotion. It was more like First 15 this morning, because I kept falling asleep and having to go back and re-read it. This morning, it was talking about the pressing of olives in order to get the oil for the Temple Menorah. The point was that in the "crushing" times in our lives, if we honor God, our light will shine in the darkness. Pretty good to remember. Especially on those "crushing" days when it feels like nothing goes right.
I began to get ready. I do a lot of praying in the morning when I get ready probably because it is the longest time frame of my day in which I am alone, and it is quiet. Therefore, the most conductive time for me to talk to the Lord. So I was getting ready, and thinking and praying, and I came across this quote. "I want to have talked to God more than I talk to anyone else." - Jennie Allen I like that. I like that a lot. I am not a big talker as it is. I like to listen and process things more than talk. But I definitely think it is a good goal to aim to talk to God more than we talk to anyone else. I am going to work on that.
The Oldest Princess woke up not feeling well this morning. She talked to her Daddy, and he thought we should let her stay home and rest for a couple of hours. But, she missed a test on Friday, the day we left for cheer competition, and I did not want her to get any further behind than she should. I expressed that to him. He then told her that she needed to go in for her first few classes, and then she could come home and rest. But, our varsity guys were playing a game, and if she only went the first few hours, that would mean that she would not be able to cheer. I am trying to back off a little and let her start making some decisions on her own, because she is about to start having to make all of her decisions on her own. I want to allow her to make a few while she is here still under our supervision and see how she does. I did not feel that she should miss the game, but I wanted to let her make that decision and face the music of her consequences. We gave her some medicine, and she headed off to school with me. She was not a happy camper. And I was frustrated as well. I do not like starting my morning off that way. I checked on her later, and she seemed to be doing better. She ended up staying, and I was very glad that she did. She did not get behind by missing any of her other classes, and was able to cheer for the game.
God has been working on a certain area of my life, in a deeply personal way. I have been searching and seeking His heart, and praying for Him to work on my heart like never before in this particular area. It is so funny to me how God works. I find that when He is teaching me something, I seem to see that thing, or idea, or be tested in that area multiple times each day. This one thing has been constantly before me. It feels like everything I pick up something to read, or get in a conversation with someone, this topic comes up. Usually it frustrates me. This time, I have allowed it to serve as a reminder for me to take it to the Lord in prayer again. I so want to learn what He has for me to learn. I so want to grow, and be more like Him in this area of my life than ever before, but for now, it feels like I have hit a brick wall and that I am going nowhere. So, I will continue to listen. I will continue to pray.
School went well overall. There were a few little really frustrating parts sprinkled in. My students are writing a practice report before they start their big library research report, and trying to help them and guide them without telling them exactly what to write is frustrating to me. I want their papers to be their papers. But teaching them to write their first big paper, and make it their own, is tough. And at times, a little on the frustrating side. They want me to answer. I want them to think of a way to write it on their own. There were a couple more little instances where kids will be kids, and teachers have had enough. It wears on you some days more than others. Today was one of those days. I knew it and I tried to be patient, but there were a couple of times. Maybe we should just be glad we all made it out alive. Just kidding. It was not that bad, but close.
After school, I asked the Youngest Princess how she did on her language quiz. I had promised her an ice cream if she made an "A". We very rarely ever bribe our children. But the Youngest Princess has been struggling in language, and I thought she might just need a little incentive to "get her over the hump" so to speak. When I asked how she did, she immediately burst into tears. Parenting fail. She missed two, and they were ten points each. So she made an 80. Which meant no ice cream. She said she did not understand something on the quiz. She had her paper. Sitting there in the car, I explained something about it to her. She said, "But I didn't KNOW that!" I told her that now she did, so she could understand it better. She wanted to know if she could still have an ice cream because if she had known that, she would have gotten it right. Um. No. No A, no ice cream. More tears. All the way home. At home I sat down to try to study for my small group for tomorrow night. Because I did not do any last week, I am trying to play catch up this week and do two weeks in one. So I am feeling pressed to get it all done. The Youngest Princess needed to study her spelling words, so I got her all set up on Quizlet, so she could study and I could study. She was missing one right after another. She tired. She was crying. She was stressed out. I was tired. I was pressed for time. I was stressed out. It was not a pretty picture. I made her stop and actually spend some time going over her spelling words in her book and then she did much better on her quizlet test. We also spent a little time studying language, because she has a test tomorrow. I did not get as far in my studying as I wanted to, but I was able to get a little done.
My Prince came home, and we got ready and left to go to the ballgame. On our way, I went ahead and read our chapter of Mandie to the Youngest Princess, so we would not have to do it when we got home, and it was late. We stopped and ate at Chick-fil-a for dinner. After dinner, we had time to do just a little shopping and then it was off to the game. The Young Prince and his team played a great game, but they came up just short. So, thus ends their season. I have enjoyed watching them play.
On the way home we went ahead and had our family devotions in the car, since we were all there together, and it would save us some time when we got home. We read, I John 5:14-21. We had a couple of questions and My Prince answered them for us. Then we talked about a few things that could be idols in our lives. My Prince gave us a sneak peek into his sermon for Sunday - hint, hint - it talks about loving God more than anything else (not having idols). It will be good. If you attend our church, you don't want to miss it! We spent some time in prayer - for friends who have a child who had an allergic reaction to some medicine, and who have a grandmother who is preparing to enjoy her first moments in heaven just any day now, for a friend who has hives and doesn't know what is causing them, for another set of friends who one of them is sick with a respiratory infection, and one of them is sick with the flu, and for safe travels home. We praised the Lord for keeping our children safe during the sports year.
After that it was quiet for a while. My Prince told me Pigs in the Blanket sounded good to him for dinner tomorrow night. Good deal. I can do that. The Youngest Princess said something about Blankets and Pigs. She was so tired that she got it backward. It was cute.
We got home and everyone got to bed as quickly as they could. We are all worn out. I grabbed the computer and sat in bed to write my blog, just so after I type the final words, I can lay the computer down, and close my eyes. I won't even have to climb the stairs.
Until tomorrow...
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