Jeni Prays Over Her Calendar

Sometimes a person will come up to me, awestruck, and ask how I manage to get it all done with 7 kids.  I’m going to tell you.

I don’t.  Ever.  If you are impressed that I sewed dresses and coats for the girls, then you would be appalled to have seen the state of my house while that happened.  If I am sick, busy, tired, or serious about tutoring the kids one-on-one, then the house looks like a junk yard.  I could get a whole lot more done if I could manage to get my lazy self out of bed in the morning.  As it is, the twins come to cuddle with me, and then the three of us fall back to sleep.  Or if we stuck to my neatly-arranged, color-coded schedule we would be nothing short of amazing.  But I check out and head for Jeni Forest too often while the kids fend for themselves. 

And then I whine to Mark that I can’t get it done, and he patiently listens to me and commiserates and often helps.  Love that man.  We’ve decided that most of my time is spent doing laundry and picking up clothes and toys and shoes.  If we got rid of most of our clothes and toys, my life would be simpler.  This is why fires are often blessings in disguise… I need to get bold enough to get rid of the stuff I would not replace if a fire destroyed our house. 

And then, just when I’m about at sanity’s end, thinking I’ll wallow in the muck and mire of my disordered life forever, I get a call to organize the music for the Terrace Tea in March.  God has a funny way of getting us past ourselves…  can you hear him saying, “Look.  Jennifer is having a hard time managing her house and can’t get everything done.  I know just the thing for her—ask her to do more!” 

Oh!  Happier news: Mark and I have been married for 16 years now!!!  Can you believe it?!