Counting My Blessings

Thank you all for your prayers, sweet comments, and deeds. It is very evident to me that I am being prayed for. Today it was greatly felt.

Well, I am ashamed to think of how many days I have prayed and asked God to guide me in my day and then gone on to forget about seeking His will and doing my own which can sometimes end in a pretty frazzled day. Today was different. I have been very, terribly tired lately (and unable to sleep at night for some reason) as I still have the pregnancy symptoms. It is a strange thing to have the symptoms knowing there will be no reward for them! ;) Lately I have had days where I can't possibly fathom making dinner and gotten us Subway for dinner or, worse yet, Big Daddy's (very good but very unhealthy). This morning I sincerely prayed for God to give me grace to have energy to do the things I need to do well (school with the kids, being a pleasant and cheerful wife and mommy hoping to set a good atmosphere in my home, keeping the house clean, spending fun time with the kids...) Today was a really, really good day. After school I felt like I needed to find the quickest way to get a nap and felt really drained. I almost decided to skip taking the kids to the zoo as I had planned or atleast wait until later after a nap. I thought maybe if I just went that I would gain some energy from walking and being outside. Or, I could end up being even more drained. I packed us a lunch and we went. Bailey was so proud that he had his own money to spend (he worked hard in the yard for Derrick so that Derrick could mow last week and had some money from G-ma Young). Bailey bought carousel rides for his sister and him and got them some toys from the gift shop. We had a picnic at the park and then looked at the animals. It was a good strenuous walk pushing the double stroller (particularly up the hill)! I felt really good and the kids were incredibly good the whole time! Samantha was so happy that she does what she does when her cup is about to run over. When we were having our picnic, she spontaneously and loudly yelled with great emotion, "I love you, mom! And I love the whole world!" She had to say it twice! ;) When we got home the kids rested and I cleaned the bathrooms and started a nice dinner that turned out to be so good. I was so happy that I even had the energy to do this and had not even taken a nap. I was cleaning the kid's toilet which was a lot less fun than the time at the zoo! It happened to be very disgusting as one of the kids had left a terrible mess on it. The first temptation was to be frustrated. But then I thought, "I would much rather have them and this disgusting toilet than not have them and have a clean, sparkling toilet all the time." Then I thanked God for blessing me with them and I meant it with all my heart. Then on to the kitchen and I was overwhelmed with even more thoughts of how blessed I am to have my family. Later I was putting Isabella's car seat back together after washing it which can be time consuming and a little more challenging with the extra car seat cover I have. If you make one wrong move, which I did, you have to pull the straps out and start over again. I got a sore back over the whole deal. Again, I had thoughts of how thankful I am to have her and her difficult little car seat! We had a really good dinner complete with my friend, Kimber's, best potato salad ever, aside from my moms! After dinner my little blessings helped me unload the dishwasher, wash the dishes, and wipe the table off (though Derrick usually does this part) with great eagerness. And my sweet husband, though he was very tired today and wanted to relax, decided to grant Bailey's request of going for a bike ride. So, the girls rode in the double stroller, Bailey rode his bike, and, of course, Molly came too! I love our family walks. Then we got in my bed and read some books from G-ma Bobber. Derrick brought me a once very dirty baby that was all clean and smelled of one of my favorite scents, Baby Magic Baby Wash. We read the kids their "treasure", their Bibles, and the VERY tired little ones went to bed. It was such good time spent together and such a nice day.