Whether your babies are new, young or old – whether they grew in your belly or grew in your heart – I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day. A special blessing to the Mommies and Mothers of Angels. I pray that you will receive peace, comfort and abundant blessings today.

Saturday

“Oh hi! Today looks like a nice day!”

“It’s cold and rainy out, but I’m all cozy in my nest!”

“People feed me delicious carrots!”

“WWWAAAIT. A. MINUTE… What time is it????”

(checking)

“It’s cuddle time with Mommy!!!”

“Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy!”

“From your upside down baby cakes!”

back to Friday…

I’m glad this week is over. Since Monday it’s felt like I’ve been constantly dodging and swerving from stop sticks being thrown out in front of me. Thursday morning’s soundtrack went something like this. If anything could have gone “wrong”, it did. Any one of the events by themselves would have been a completely valid excuse for missing Bible study.

Sometimes Nora stays asleep while I’m getting the big kids off to school–this day, of course, she did not. As she was expressing her utmost displeasure about the situation at hand I noticed the gauge on her oxygen concentrator was malfunctioning. I hooked her up to a portable tank, checked her sats (which were fine), scrambled some eggs, fixed a bottle, brushed and fixed kids’ hair, fed Nora, kissed the kids and saw them out the door, sucked some boogies, made a phone call to get the oxygen concentrator looked at / fixed, peeked out the window at the kids up at the bus stop and then attempted to get a shower for myself and a bath for Nora who was completely encrusted in boogies. Ordinarily I would forgo the shower as I was fortunate to have gotten one the day before. However my hair looked like I had run Crisco through it. It was actually the infant massage oil that became acquainted with my hair from my hands while repositioning my bangs out of my face throughout the day. So same difference. After a two-minute shower it was Nora’s turn. I took my time with her and gently washed her sweet hair and face. I even let her float around in the jets for a couple of minutes before we had to get out. I gently placed her up on the clean towel I had neatly laid out for her which was her cue to puke all over the place. I put the stopper back down in the tub with my foot and quickly re-immersed her and rinsed her off. I laid out another towel from the nearby pile and attempted to get her out again. Puke All Over the Place Part 2. “I…. Feel like… I’ve been here…. And done this before…” It was then that I started laughing because it was so obvious that satan did NOT want me going to Bible study at 9:30!

“This must be a really, really good session!!!!!” I said out loud through gritted teeth.

Eventually I managed to get Nora out of the tub, dried off, moisturized and dressed. I was then able to get dressed in a random outfit in .8 seconds in response to an assertive knock at the front door. The next 20 minutes were spent running up and down the steps between Nora, getting myself ready, explaining what was wrong with the oxygen concentrator, locating my missing Bible study book, signing in Nora’s nurse, and swiping on some mascara. I now had 5 minutes to get to Bible study that was 15 minutes away. I kissed Nora, said goodbye to the nurse, grabbed my coffee and raced out the door. Go! Go! Go! Go!

I was making great time for about 5 minutes until I encountered a slowly moving farm combine taking up both sides of the road.

My speedometer barely registered at 15 mph. Might as well kick my feet up on the dashboard, read the newspaper, put the seat back and take a nap, walk along next to the car for exercise when I woke up… Through my sarcastic thoughts I smiled. This one might not have been so satan-inspired. As I was walking out the door Nora’s sweet nurse said she’d say a prayer I got to Bible study safely. 10-15 mph is about as safe as it gets.

Finally, eventually and amazingly I managed to get to Bible study! I was amused to see / hear that the building’s fire alarm was either being worked on or trying to be ignored by everyone as it malfunctioned with blinding flashes of light and intermittent buzzes that scared the heck out of everyone. Of course it was!!! GIVE UP ALREADY, SATAN!!! That just forced me to listen closer and harder!

Choosing Joy – Because Happiness Isn’t Enough is the title of this study by Kay Warren. Week one we focused on how happiness and joy are not synonymous. Jesus wasn’t this unapproachable religious tyrant who came to this earth to stop people from having any fun! Jesus was a man of JOY! Jesus always knew that one day in His future he would suffer a horrific death. Instead of focusing on that and letting that steal His joy, He focused on God, He trusted God. In doing that, He experienced JOY!

“Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life; the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right; and the determined choice to praise God in all things.”
Kay Warren

On a VERY lesser scale than being nailed to a cross in my future, an entire morning of very trivial problems threatened to steal my joy. In my old way of thinking before Nora came along, it most CERTAINLY would have. I would have let all of that mess set the tone for the rest of my day and not even gone to Bible study. No! God is in control and every (little) thing’s gonna be alright. {3 birds!} Praise you, GOD, that when everything is falling apart at the seams, You are using the scraps and weaving them into something resplendent. You are my true source of joy!

Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.
(Psalm 86:4 NIV)

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.
(Psalm 126:5 NIV)