Back to reality

Whew. This week has felt a bit more challenging than the last two. It took me until today to realize that I was on vacation for a week and a half- and this week is back to reality- the normal routine of life. I actually love the normal routine of life, it's just that compared to vacation- with no cooking or cleaning and lots of beach sitting and a dozen family members ready to help with the girls at any moment- it makes daily life seem hard in comparison :). 

The Lord used tonight to remind me of a valuable lesson- that God has given me FAR MORE than I deserve. Joe is working late tonight as he is preaching in the morning, which means I had the girlie's bedtime routine to myself. Things went great and I was excited to have an hour "to myself", and I convinced myself I deserved this after all I did today. Well...Abigail decided for some unknown reason that she wasn't going to sleep, instead she would scream as loud as she could in her bassinet until I would pick her up. At the same time as Abi woke up, I was laying Alathea down and we realized that we couldn't find bunny. And I mean it when I said we couldn't find her! So I had both girls screaming for an entire hour. I didn't know if I should pick up Abigail- when I did it slowed my efforts to find bunny- which I thought would relieve Alathea's screaming for "honey, mama! yay-yay need honey!". Anyways, about an hour later I found bunny under my bed (I had checked there at least 5 times!) and I caved in an rocked my Abigail to sleep (which you all know isn't too hard for me to do :). While I was rocking Abigail, I wisely decided I needed some time with the Lord. My heart wasn't in the right place- I felt tempted to anger and resentment, etc. I read a chapter in "Pierced by the Word" (by Piper) on humility. It so convicted me!! He talked about one mark of humility to is realize what it is that we deserve... an eternity in hell, separated from God! But what has the Lord given me- FAR MORE than I deserve- salvation- and eternity in HIS PRESENCE!! Wow, how quickly I can forget the impact the simple truths of the Gospel have on my daily life!! Then, my heart was no longer complaining because I wasn't getting the evening of rest I thought I deserved, instead it was full of gratitude to the Lord! God was so kind to reveal this to me. And then I was able to spend some time thanking him for the girls, for Joe working hard to serve us and the church and I even thanked God for the hour of screaming. It was a reminder than even when I do not see it, He is always working good in my life. Thank you, Lord!