What Brings Joy in Your Day?!

          

           First, this could get a little PG rated so, if you're not married or under age maybe you might want to wait to read my next post. Sorry, had to add the disclaimer. 
             So, I was thinking about my days. How there seems to be chaos, and busyness all day long. Well, really often even into the night. My daily responsibilities are quite numerous. To name just a few on a regular, mellow day (of which there is never one of those). 

1. Getting everyone up on time
2. prodding on the dressing and chore time
3. bathing and dressing not only myself, but the 2 "littles"
4. making beds
5. cleaning up
6. breakfast
7. DISHES
8. clean-up anything else in the way for lessons
9. lessons
10. refereeing squabbles
11. encouraging
12. laundry
13. planning meals
14. grocery shopping
15. vacuuming 
16. potty patrol (2 year old still needs to be reminded to go)
17. sweeping
18. fielding any phone calls
19. calendar juggling
20. taxi driver to get to appointments and classes on time
21. time keeper
22. floors to wash
23. bathrooms to clean (showers, etc)
24. wiping noses, faces, and anything else that needs to be wiped
25. Lunch
26. DISHES
27. prepare dinner
28. get everyone ready to come in and eat
29. encourage them all to eat said HEALTHY meal
30. DISHES
31. cleanup 
32. bathes
33. p.j.s
34. stories
35. potty monitor
36. booty wiper
37. bedtime tyrant
38. Vitamin giver and watcher that they take them.
39. meanie that makes all stay in bed!

             I really could go on and on. Let me tell you, there is so much left out. Not to mention the surprises that I am always blessed with everyday. I will enlighten you a little on a few examples of those little interruptions blessings I get through the day. 

1. Potty training. That we poop in the potty. Not the floor.
2. bumped heads, arms, noses, legs, toes, and more
3. band aids!
4. unexpected visitors
5. dawdling
6. disagreements
7. leaking garbage disposals
8. weird smells
9. spilled food, drinks, soap, ice, toys, etc. on the floor to clean
10. markers (do I need to say anymore) 
11. toilet paper rolls-totally unrolled
12. tu-tu's getting caught
13. fingers stuck in various holes
14. odd objects in noses
15. things missing that were possibly swallowed. Or not

             I think you get the idea. I don't live a quiet and serene life. When I quit work while pregnant with my first son, my boss said she would keep my job available for awhile for when I got bored and wanted to come back..
UMMM.... REALLY?!
It's been almost 14 years since he was born (WOW I didn't realize I had one that old!!) and I don't think I have had a moment of boredom since then. NOPE. No boring days. I can truly say that. And really mean it. 


            Now, back to the title of this post. What brings joy into your crazy, busy days? What things give you that stranded on a beautiful white beach in the middle of nowhere with all of the comforts you couldn't live without, moment?
I truly thought about this as I hear new moms and new brides that look at my busy life of a husband, and 4 kids and homeschooling and they say, "No WAY! How do you do it? How do you not loose yourself? How do you find "ME" time? How does your husband still know you love him? How do you still know he loves you?!!" (First, we all know I have issues with ME time. So, we'll leave that one alone. )
                 So, here is my top list of what gives me my joy.

1. SWEET TEA (you knew that was coming. RIGHT?)
2. chocolate
3. a cold day, with homemade soup on the stove. And a glimpse of my children all getting along. For a moment.
4. T.V. time in the evening with my husband (that is our dates)
5. Early bedtimes for the kids
6. NOONERS!
7. talking on the phone with my childhood friend while we both clean up the kitchen in our homes
8. Laughter
9. reading the Bible first thing in the morning out loud with my husband before anyone else gets up.
10. playing games with my family
11. Oh and did I mention a little AFTERNOON DELIGHT
12. OOPS and Sweet tea

          I wonder if you notice a few patterns. First, I do a lot of dishes and cook tons...
Also, I love sweet tea (no surprise) and I love my husband. Those moments that I listed in the last list, are what brings my day joy. When I realize that I'm not feeling too joyful and I'm more grouchy then pleasant, I need to find one of those things on my brings joy list to do. It means I have gotten sucked into the "have to's" and the the vortex of busyness.
Yes ladies, I know we are busy and tired and stretched to our limit. It seems so much easier and less trouble to reach for the chocolate, a latte, or a sweet tea but, if we are truly looking for refreshing moment, actually a little flustering moment, take a moment with your Honey. Nowhere in the Bible does it say to delight in your latte. It does say to delight in each other.  Proverbs 5:18 says- May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
         Yea, it really says that. So, in case you have forgotten, You used to delight in him often. Before kids. Before dishes. Before poop on the floor. Remember how you would get so excited about seeing him before you were married? Now when he walks in the door, do you stop. Do you even acknowledge that he is home? Do you go out of your way to do the special little things he likes? Get him that special treat from the store? He is the one that used to bring you joy in the middle of your day. Is he still?


         Also, if you haven't read Song of Solomon (some Bibles call it Song of Songs) lately, go for it. Actually, try reading it out loud to your husband. You might be surprised what is in there. Now that you are an adult and are able to really experience all that he says in the book. Go for it. Have a little joy in the afternoon. 

Listening When HE Talks.

          

To Listen Wholeheartedly. 

            Well, here I am again, in the middle of the night. Feeling unsettled. What is it? Why the unsettled feeling in my soul tonight? Actually, I have felt it all day. Our pastor has been talking on God talking to you and how we need to be ready and quiet and listening. It's imperative to have a dedicated prayer life and to read daily. However, he says he has talked to people that have said to him that God told them something. He says he is always amazed that they are still standing. He says that if God talked to him, he doesn't think you could even answer from the overwhelming power, awe, etc. of God himself. I suppose you could site the story of God having to put his hand over the crevice where Moses was so that He could pass by. And that the glory of God shown on Moses face when he spent time on the mount to receive the tablets. Exodus 34:29-30 ²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.
In Exodus 3:6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
              I can see how someone might say that to HEAR God would be almost (maybe) horrifying. I am struggling with this. The reason? I have heard God. I know, I have now had several of you roll your eyes and maybe even turn off this page. But, it is true. When my second son was so very sick and in the NICU for so long, I was up for many hours. I lived on very little sleep. I figured out once that I was living on 4 hours, accumulated sleep. I would catch time here and there when I could. One reason was because not all of the medical staff liked me being at my child's bedside at all hours of the day and night. I suppose, I was infringing on their turf. Not all of the nurses were that way though. Many said they would do the same. During this time, I was closer to God than I had ever been. I prayed a steady stream. I understand the passage in the Bible that says to pray without ceasing. I also read my bible a lot. I was seeking his guidance and comfort. 
            Well, one night I thought that I could slip off to bed for a few winks of sleep. My little darling was fed and sleeping. No meds scheduled for a few hours. I had a nurse that I thought was going to be on my side. Well, I had no sooner laid my head down and I heard, very clearly, "Get up! He needs you now!" I even was already on my feet. I didn't realize that there was no one in the room to say the words I heard until I hit the NICU door. Where I found the nurses all around my son's nurse as she was feeding him a bottle. (This was something that was against what I had researched. What he was wrong with my son would be helped much more with breast milk. And he had actually had a problem with the formula in the first week. ) When I walked through the door, she went pale and shook her head ( the other nurses spread out and I heard a lot of murmuring about me always being there, and I always seem to know. ) and asked, "How did you know?"
              I answered, "He told me." At the time it didn't seem strange. I just took it for granted the God had told me and it was normal. Even though I realized later that it really isn't a normal everyday occurrence. 
            Am I crazy? I didn't die. I didn't fall down in fear? Does that make me irreverent? Some would say that the sleep deprivation made me a little crazy. Maybe. But, I remember that moment in that 4 months so much more clearly then anything else. There other moments like that where I felt God's presence but, only that time when I heard him. 
           Well, as I struggle with the before mentioned sermon that was taught in church and think maybe I am crazy, I read this morning in my Bible: Acts 9:10

¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
   “Yes, Lord,” he answered.

                 Ananias didn't die either. He just answered. There are several examples just like this. 

What about Samuel? He was still a child when it happened to him. 

I Samuel 3:10- ¹⁰ The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
   Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”


           Of all of the stories where God speaks or calls someone, Samuel's story is my favorite in that he is an innocent child and he doesn't even know it is God calling him. Also, it says that the Lord came and stood there. Samuel was still able to speak. 
             So with that said I think it safe to say, that God does speak on rare occasions. I am not saying that you sit and have a daily conversation in the way you and I could sit and talk. I think that when He wants to talk, He does. I just pray that if He ever talks to me again, I am listening. I am not from the camp of, "God CAN move mountains, He just chooses NOT to." I don't believe that for one minute. I believe He moves mountains everyday. We just are in a world that never stands still long enough to notice. He says, in Psalm 46:10-

¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

           
               I know that my God talks and probably even sings. I know that he is here and everywhere. I know that He loves me and is concerned with the things that concern me. After reading that passage above about Samuel again, I know sometimes, he even stands near us. With that I hope that I can always say, "Speak, for your servant is listening."