Jeni Celebrates Sanctification

When things are going well, when I'm organized, when the schedule is running without interruptions, then I'm at peace.

But what about when I'm dog-tired, and a baby begins crying at 12:30 a.m., and after I suction her nose and get her comfortably settled into my bed for the night and almost fall back to sleep, the other baby cries. Hard. So I get her, too, and settle her beside her sister for the night, and they fall asleep so peacefully snuggled against each other, and then I realize I don't fit in 6 inches of bed, so I take them back to their cribs, and then plug my ears against their crying so I can get some sleep.

Yes, even then, at least this time, I can say I'm at peace. I prayed that God would teach me to live and carry on when I don't get good sleep at night, and so far all I've learned is that everything can wait an extra half-hour or hour so that I can get the sleep I need.

Waking up late, I realized the schedule was pointless. Instead of hitting the academics today, we hit clean mode. The school room and basement look like someone actually cares, and since Mark does care, he'll approve of my choice of activity.

I also sat the boys down and discussed with them the cost and logistics of clothing six children plus two adults, and I stressed to them the importance of taking care of their clothes and other possessions. Then later Bradford comes to me and says that he's sorry, but all the clothes in the dryer are multi-colored because Nathaniel had face paint in his pockets that I didn't catch. Maybe God is telling me that even if they do take care of their clothes, an entire load can be ruined by such an event, but not to fret, because it's His job to clothe us anyway, and He'll see that we're not naked.

I'm about to go up and assess the damage to the clothes. I've prayed, and I've eaten chocolate, and I think I am prepared to deal patiently with this crisis as well.