It's Monday. Ugh.

When my days begin at 5am - there is little chance that I'm going to get my second wind after school. Because I barely have a first wind - and it is certainly gone by 4pm. So today I came home and told my kids to take a break while I rested a minute. Or forty-eight.

Until the bedside lamp being knocked over on my head woke me up. Along with the sound of a babbling brook of unsweetened iced tea running down the edge of my nightstand. So I calmly sat up and called:

"Sweet children, my precious gifts from God - yes, the two of you - whom I love more than anything else on this Earth and sacrifice everything for gladly and with great joy - could you come assist me? Your cute furry pet has gotten a little rowdy and caused a wee mishap."

Or else I hollered out something that I would be ashamed to write for the entire world to read.

And maybe even threatened to throw the cat out into the driveway (which we all know would be a terribly insensitive thing to holler out after the unfortunate event last week).

Just like Jesus. "Above all, put on love". Good job AGAIN, Sandy.

Isn't that always how it is? We lash out and hurt the ones we love the most. The ones we would take fifty bullets for are the very ones we shoot down with sharp, stinging words. The ones we hold closest to our hearts are the ones we push away when we are angry and tired. In the heat of the moment - when my only hope of keeping it together is to fix my eyes on Jesus - I stubbornly turn away from Him so I can pitch my fit without having to look Him in the eye.

And then stomp off to drive a whopping three blocks to "get away". My therapy? Grocery shopping. Fun.

But even a trip to Super One can be relaxing when it is the first time in twelve hours that you have been without the company of someone (or twenty four someones) under the age of twelve. I feel like grocery shopping is somewhat of a "game show" right now - since we are now SEVENTEEN days away from my first pay check of the school year, and our freezer is roughly the size of two shoe boxes. I feel that my problem solving and engineering skills are really being developed during this season of my life.

Too bad my ability to hold my temper and behave like an adult aren't benefitting quite as much, huh?

After a good phone talk with my pal and some "Stomping Around Super One Therapy" - I felt ready to face my little world back at the Heights. I called ahead to tell the kids to get ready to come help me bring the groceries in.

They came down the stairs grinning - which immediately raised my suspicion. Cheerfully they carried the groceries up the stairs. At which point Matthew couldn't hold it in any longer. "Come look at my room, Mama. We cleaned up for you."

And they had. Matthew's room WAS clean. All the dishes were washed. The table was cleared off. Even "Lake Unsweetened Iced Tea" beside my bed had vanished. I walked back to the kitchen to thank them - and on the door of the fridge was the sight that cracked the last shard of hateful ice away and turned my heart to a warm puddle (which promptly began pouring out my eyes. AND my nose - since I am one of those "criers" that requires lots and lots and lots of tissue. Just ask my pal.)

It's a humbling thing for your children to act more like Jesus than you do. 

It's all the daily days that make up the beautiful tapestry of life. The moments that slip away nearly unnoticed are the ones you look back on with such fondness.

My sister posted that she has something new on her bucket list: to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. (This is apparently a 30 mile hike up a mountain in the Andes. I told her I would go if I could ride in the bucket.) I'm assuming the last mile of that hike would be much tougher than the first mile. I remind myself of that as I look back at the mountain we have climbed together. So many times I have promised my kids, "We are almost to a better place, guys. We just have to keep going." So many times I have reminded them to look around and be thankful for all the million ways the Lord has provided for us and blessed us beyond measure.

How incredible for these two little souls to be the very ones who turn my eyes toward Him on a hot, sultry Monday when I've pitched a wall-eyed-hillbilly-hissy-fit.

Just before he dozed off, Matthew said, "Mama, is your school year going good? Because mine is. I think this year is turning out to be the best one yet. You're at my school some days and the school lunch is pretty good, once you get used to it. And even if I don't like it - they have pickled okra every day."

Well - there you go. I guess that does make for a pretty good scholastic experience when you get pickled okra every day at lunch.

I pray the Lord will continue to grab my chin and MAKE me look Him in the eye. Remind me to remember all the blessings and provision He has provided.

And pickled okra to boot.

And the lights go out on another day here in Pizza Hut Heights.