Amazing, Sweet Grace

My dear blogger friends, please forgive me. This past week has been a whirlwind of places to go, people to see and just plain craziness. I usually spend time each Monday reading each of your blogs and updating Saved by Grace. But things did not go as planned yesterday.

I love the age difference between our two boys. Our youngest is 14 months and our oldest 3. It's nice in the mornings, the baby (he's still a baby to me!) gets up around 7 and goes down for a nap at 9. Our toddler doesn't get up until around 8, which means I can usually turn on Moose A Moose and Zee from 7:30 until 8 and catch up on blogger.


Yesterday they both got up at SIX and our oldest didn't take a single nap ALL DAY LONG. We *almost* had an all-family nap early in the afternoon. The baby went down for his afternoon nap with little to no fuss. Ace (our 3 year old) ran and climbed into his little bed. I quickly headed for my own bed, knowing the silence wouldn't last. I had just climbed into bed, taken off my glasses and settled into a nice dream-like state.... and the doorbell rang. You can imagine what happened next. The baby, little T, started screaming and Ace wanted nothing more than to go outside and see who had come to visit us. To his dismay, it was the Fed Ex man. Wait, no, it was the package he left sitting on our front porch after ringing the bell and running back to his truck. Family nap time was over.





We moved on to snack time, which ended up being a game of 54 card pick up, only with crackers.



Frustrated, with two very sleepy and irritable kiddos, we decided to head outside to play. There wasn't a dark cloud in the sky and it was pleasantly overcast, so the temperature was below the 100 degree mark. It started to sprinkle.



We headed back inside for craft time. You are probably thinking finger paints, super glue, glitter and felt. By craft time, I mean crayons and paper. I figured there was a greater chance we wouldn't destroy the rest of the house if there were no paints or glue. Or stickers. Stickers can be a big problem in our house.



I gave Ace some crayons and paper. A few minutes later I checked on him and discovered he was not coloring. He thought of something far more creative to do with the crayons. As it turns out, the tips make a nice, colorful, tasty snack. Makes sense, considering he had used his snack to decorate the living room earlier.



By this point, I was certain I had gained a gray hair or two. What was left of my hair after pulling it out all day, that is!


And now you are probably wondering if there is going to be a point to all this whining. (Why, yes there is. Thanks for asking!)


A few weeks back I posted about my desire to discover the true meaning of grace. After getting the kids to bed last night, I sat back and reflected on the day. It didn't go as planned. My children wouldn't behave as needed to make the day smooth and enjoyable for everyone, themselves included. And once I was able to encourage them to choose the right path, someone else stepped into this path and once again averted the plan. (I am still a little miffed with the Fed Ex man.)


I can't even imagine what it must be like for God to watch His children make one poor decision right after another. Watch us sin, day in and day out. Sins that avert our attention from Him and His purpose, where we find an unimaginable amount of fulfillment and joy.


He encourages us to take the right path. We manage to trek along it for a little while, then the Fed Ex guy comes in the form of lust, greed, envy, laziness, gluttony. And we're off the path. Again.


Yet He loves us. And He is willing to pick us up and direct us to the correct path. Again and again and again.


I often think of where I might be today, if not for His grace. How thankful I am for His unconditional and perfect love. It makes my desire to be a better parent on days like these even stronger.


Hopefully that all made sense, it all flowed well in my head anyway. Sometimes that doesn't mean much!


Have a great week!!! Thanks for stopping by!


Love,