It was a rough day at our house. I started feeling under the weather yesterday and hardly slept last night, partially because I was congested, and partially because a certain little boy woke up in the night. We haven't pulled the humidifier out yet and he woke up with a sore throat and needed a drink of water. Since he never wakes up in the night, and since I had been struggling to sleep anyway, I took advantage of the chance to rock my firstborn and soak up some snuggles.
When I awoke, the crud had hit me with full force. My head felt like it could explode from the sinus pressure, and my mind felt completely clouded. Add a toddler to that mix, and it just wasn't pretty. He was testing the limits, and I was impatient and short-tempered. I threw on my sweats and headed off to Walgreens, only to be told that pretty much every effective cold and sinus medication is off limits for pregnant women. Tylenol and Sudafed just aren't cutting it.
Since Riggins was fine and since I am pretty positive I just have a sinus infection, I went on to MOPS. I figured that if I were home, I would just have a bored child to entertain, so I might as well let him play with his friends while I zoned out to our speaker.
Of course, that's never how these things work, is it? Our speaker was the preschool minister from a local church, and she spoke about incorporating Jesus into everyday life with our children. After her introduction, she showed a brief video with the theme of "7,000 Days." A sentimental song about how fast parenthood flies by played in the background as images of families flashed across the screen. In each family, each child held a sign with a number between 6,999 and 1.
If you average it out, there are about 7,000 days between a child's day of birth and the day they turn 18 and leave your house for college. The number on each child's sign represented the number of days they have left in their parents' homes. Although we will continue to influence our children after that point, the primary impact we have comes during the years they are in our homes.
Between my lack of sleep, my pregnancy hormones, my pounding headache, and our difficult morning, the weight of the video's message was more than I could take. My eyes were overflowing with tears, and had I not been in the presence of others I would have positively wept.
I know not all days are going to be great. And I know that some of them, like today, are going to be downright rough. But gosh, I want to soak them all up and make them matter. I don't want to waste time with my children. The countdown is on.
We went home and my prayers for a long nap were answered. We each slept for three hours, and when Riggins woke up we made a big bowl of popcorn and crawled into my bed to watch every Elmo video ever posted to You Tube. When Jonathan came home, he took Riggs and Weber on a run and then to pick up dinner at Chic-fil-A. We capped off the evening with a bath, the Advent calendar, and some stories and Christmas carols.
So the day was redeemed. I still feel like junk, and I expect to feel the same tomorrow. My plate will be a tiny little saucer for the next couple of days, if you will. But I'll be darned if I wish away any of these 7,00 days with my boys!
And one last little tidbit that I took away from her talk: let your children see you in the Word and in prayer. While it is great to have time alone with the Lord, it is so good for your children to see you prioritizing that time. This was a big lightbulb for me. Ever since becoming a mother I have struggled to figure out when to fit in my time with the Lord, since uninterrupted moments alone are few and far between. My youth group concept of "quiet time" had made me feel like being totally alone and quiet was essential. While those times are important, our speaker made me realize that some time in the Bible at the kitchen table as Riggins eats breakfast is still time in the Word! It's better than nothing it will set an example for him.
This point brought back memories of coming downstairs each morning as a child and teenager to find my dad at the kitchen table with his cup of coffee and open Bible. He didn't pack it all up just because I was awake, and I obviously have clear memories of this priority in his life. What is more, that priority showed in other areas of life, giving me a consistent picture of what life should look like when we live out what we read and believe.
So there are just a couple of worthwhile thoughts that came out of a day otherwise filled with snotty tissues, Gatorade, and Tylenol!
2 comments:
My husband reads his bible every morning while he eats breakfast. My son crawls all over him, I'm usually running a million miles an hour, but he doesn't stop reading. He also doesn't get frustrated and say, "Can't you tell I'm reading my Bible?!?" Which is probably what I'd do. He just reads, and at the same time he interacts with his family. I've often thought about how I try to fit God in a box of quiet time, but when we have kids that's not possible nor is it good. Thanks for sharing and hope you're better soon.
My dad did the same thing. I really started noticing it in high school because I was actually awake that early. But I would walk into the kitchen and he would always have his Bible open with his breakfast.
And I think that is a huge reason why I've always done a devotional every day. (Thought I never have time to sit at eat breakfast, so mine is done at night.)
Hope you feel better soon!! I got a horrible kink in my neck a month ago, like I always do at this time of year. I've always been able to treat it with lots of advil and icy hot, which, both, of course, are off limits to pregnant women.
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