1000 Gifts (22)

It was a whirlwind week. My to-do list was long and my mind was spinning. This always happens when we get ready for a trip. I fret over clean laundry and clean floors. The to-do list never seems to shorten, even as I mark items completed. My tone becomes impatient and clipped. My children clamor over me to gain my attention that is somewhere else. Friday, after cutting my husband with my tongue, I choke back tears and cry out "This is not how I want to start our vacation!"

Then I realize that I haven't been counting. My vision has been only for myself. My gratitude journal has lain neglected on the bedside table. So I sit quiet and breathe a prayer, "Please God! Show me!"

And my journal begins to fill again:

- Aaron thoughtfully choosing music for Jeremiah to listen to and discover in the morning
- laundry all caught up
- anticipating new books
- the boys increasingly playing well together, making up games
- Aaron home for the summer!
- the boys surprise and excitement at a mid-week family movie night
- grace and forgiveness freely offered and freely received (both of us)
- Aaron finding me a cute pair of jeans, on sale for $7, when my good jeans got a hole
- putting on a frilly shirt that I know will please my husband
- a date night!
- some of the boys favorite library books found at McKays, added to the vacation stash to surprise them
- sleeping in on a Sunday morning because the kids are at the grandparents and there is no Sunday school