The Writings on the Carpet

Some time back, we had an "experience"
I was sitting on the sofa doing absolutely nothing cuz ya know that's what we SAHM's do...nothing. Oh wait, no scratch that...I was folding laundry when I heard an uproar in the nursery. The Hubby was howlin & The Monkey was scrambling out of the room. He was hot on her heels & all he said to me was "you" as he pointed to the nursery.
So, I nervously went in to find Monkey had "colored" a picture on the carpet with purple marker. Initially, I was nervous because we own a purple sharpie but then I realized that a Crayola Washable Marker was the culprit.

I couldn't help but smile as I looked at her artwork.

However, as adorable this little pic is I couldn't leave it there let alone allow her to think this was acceptable. So I grabbed some rubbing alcohol & towels and The Monkey & I went to work. As I was figuring exactly where to begin I once again asked God to please show me how to use this situation to penetrate Monkey's heart. I knew I could get upset with her & she'd more than likely not do it again but I really wanted to move her little spirit. After all that's what God does when I fall short & He's the best example of a parent you can get!
So, after praying, Monkey & I had a conversation as we cleaned. First I asked her to begin rubbing the carpet as hard as she could with the cloth. Of course, it wasn't coming off in the least & she was getting very frustrated. I told her the markings on the carpet are like sin on our hearts, we can't remove them on our own no matter how hard we try. Then I poured the alcohol on the marker & after letting it settle a few minutes, blotted it up with a towel. She was amazed! It just kinda disappeared! I told her the alcohol is like Jesus' blood, His blood covers our sins & washes them away.
She was really impressed & frankly...so was I. I just wanted to jump up & down, I mean here my 4 year old & I were having this amazing conversation & I felt like a really good Supermom. However, nothing with The Monkey is ever so simple. After a good two minutes, she was all frustrated again trying to clean the marker herself!!! I again explained the need for the alcohol & how it's impossible to do this alone.
*hint hint..nudge nudge*
Ya know little girl? Jesus? Blood? Sin???
Didn't we just do this????
Well, now she wasn't all that amazed, instead she was irritated & had an attitude of "just poor the stuff outta the bottle already so I can watch Elmo"
Oh well, I don't consider it a complete bust, we had a good talk, she apologized, & seeds were planted. I think her little brain could only contain so much.
But then ya know what happened right?

God does what He always does to me. He took me from teacher to student. I couldn't help feeling convicted. How many times do I "forget" the power of the precious blood shed for me & try to rub my stained heart clean on my own? How many times do I get distracted from what HE is trying to teach me only to run off & live life as I please?

He is the only one who can cleanse me, I know too often I fall into an attitude of self righteousness & pride & don't want Him to "see" my stains. But, I long to be an example for my daughters. I long to please God by allowing Him full access to my heart & all that it holds, including that which I'd rather not be seen.
So, what began as a teachable moment for my daughter became a learning lesson for me. I close with this scripture, I plan on living this. I hope you do too.


“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Psalms 139:23-24

Kryptonite

I can say absotively posalutely that people think I'm pretty tough. And I guess on the surface I really kinda am. But the truth is, I'm a big fat sissy. Why do I say this you ask, cuz I'm terrified of a creature no bigger than the palm of my hand....a mouse.
No, not a rat, a little ole' mouse.
The other day Bear came running into my room trying desperately to catch her breath & tell me she saw a mouse. I quickly concluded that she was a loon because there was just no way that a Supermom like me could allow such a thing in her home. With more than a hint of doubt in my voice I asked her to describe this "supposed mouse"
She then went on to describe a furry, gray, pink tailed invader.
And it was in my kitchen no less!! My haven, my sanctuary, the place where I play Susie Homemaker!!
I decided right there & then that we needed to move immediately, packing only the barest of essentials. The Hubby however frowned upon my splendid idea of gettin outta dodge.
He calmly set up a mousetrap while I researched "THEE BEST BAIT FOR....."
As he peacefully applied a bit of peanut butter I questioned whether it should be creamy or chunky? Should we add jelly? And maybe some bread too???
Now...get off the floor & stop laughing at me, I really thought with my awesome Supermom logic that if the P.B. was chunky the mouse would linger longer & SNAP!! Or if we added jelly then maybe the mouse would get stuck a little aaannnnd SNAP-O!!!
And, well....the bread, I got nothin.
So today, the animals thought it would be great dinner conversation to discuss the best way to eliminate Mickey. This is when The Hubby made a grave error. He concluded the most sure fire way to relieve our guest of his breathing ability was to to set a glue trap.

EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK, again....EeeWEeeweweeeweEEEEEWwwwEWWeEEAAAHHAHHAHAHhhahhhahah!!!!!!

I had all these terrible visions of walking in the kitchen to find Monkey poking at a dying mouse with one of her My Little Ponies. Trust me, it's a strong possibility. So, I quickly told The Hubby it wasn't the least bit possible because I would sooner set the house on fire then have to pick up a wriggling dying & probably ticked off mouse regardless of whether it's "glued" to a piece of plastic or not.

You see this is where all my Supermom abilities go right out the window. This mouse is my Kryptonite.
Can't....fight....getting...dark.....feeling....weak...

I thought maybe it's time for a sidekick, SuperKitty perhaps?? For now though, The Hubby is dragging me, cape & all to the nearest Super Hero store...a.k.a. WalMart to buy...you guessed it...a glue trap. UGH...

A Good Breakfast

I gotta tell ya, I'm done. It's just after 7 & I'm ready for bed. I have been worked over something fierce today. We're still workin on recovering from Hubby's 7 month long vay cay. The animals are restless to say the least. Last week I started them back on a routine & The Bear was so confused, she kept saying "why do you keep telling us what to do??"
Now, mind you she wasn't being disrespectful, she really was at a loss. She's pretty used to runnin wild right now & to have me tellin her every 45 minutes to do this or that was strange.
And it's been an up hill battle but all in all my girls are like most kids, they aim to please. And they're curious to boot.
That's a pretty good combo.

But then we have days like today.

Days when I have cried many tears of frustration & wondered if I have even the faintest idea what I'm doing.
Days when the kids seem to be possessed. And No, not demon possessed more like "I'm insane crazy & my goal for the day is to drive you outta your mind" possessed.
I could ramble on & on and list the many things they did & did not do. But that's really not necessary.
In a nutshell, they were having a rough day themselves. Why was it rough you ask? What could possibly be so hard for a 7 year old & a 4 year old?
I mean nice threads, 4 walls, 3 squares. They've got it easy right???
Well, I guess not, you see when they got up this morning, they had to clean up their room before breakfast. They tore it up last night & I was so itchin for some peace & quiet I said "go to bed but you hafta clean it BEFORE breakfast"
So me, in my great Mommy wisdom had them clean & gave them a late breakfast, which as you other Mommies know, breakfast can make or break your day.
Our breakfast routine is to sit together & while the girls eat I read Bible Devotions with them. Today I didn't do that because we were thrown off with their bedroom.
Isn't it funny how not inviting God to breakfast with you can make the entire day nuts.
He is so important & forgetting Him because the room needs to get cleaned or school has to get started is more than foolish. I can see the fruit of my choices this morning & I can tell you, it's some pretty bitter fruit.
And in all honesty I'd LOOOOOVVVVEEEEE to blame them. I'd love to point the finger & say "ach!! You little heathens, fallin little creatures, MUAHHAHAHAHA!"
But, alas...God points me back to the mirror & reminds me that although my children are not angels they are dependent upon me to teach them what's important. And while a clean room is important, it teaches organization, responsibility, & diligence.
There is absolutely nothing more important than a good breakfast...wait let's make that a
God Breakfast....

The Blessed Zookeeper

Lord Of The Flies...

OK, so I have issues...with flies. While most people are scared of things like men with chainsaws & dogs foaming at the mouth, I am completely freaked out by flies. It's not that they're scary looking, I mean let's be real...they're ugly but not scary.
It's that they hate me...they're out to get me...
OK maybe not really but what if I'm right???
It started when I was a little girl, not even 10. I was at the beach & while my Dad, sis, & brother went for a swim I stayed back with Mommy. As my mom tried to relax & lay on the sand I proceeded to take on every single fly that had the audacity to land on her. Now get this picture in your mind...exhausted sweaty mama laying there as her caring albeit overzealous daughter beats the daylights out of her. So she kindly instructs me to please stop smacking her & find something else to do.
What did I find to do you ask???
Eat....
I promptly stuffed my face with food & every other vile germ that the Fly Demons gave me. Naturally I became very ill. I mean knock down drag out stupid goofy sick. With all the symptoms I had the Dr asked my mama if I'd recently been to an underdeveloped country!!
Well, that little incident & a few others got me pretty paranoid around flies.

So the other day when flies decided to invade my home I completely wigged out. At first one buzzed past me & I got annoyed at the thought of dealing with the nasty thing. So, I stopped sitting around doing nothing & reached for my fly swatter. As I swatted at the evil insect of hell I realized it wasn't alone....it had brought many. In the span of 45 minutes I had killed roughly 12 flies!!!

I was a complete basket case, I mean screaming in fear as I swatted at these flies & The Bear & Monkey looked on laughing thinkin this was just hysterical. Once the hubby came home & saw my state he took over & prayed for my lunacy.

So in the past few days I've been cleaning. I mean O.C.D. deeeeep cleaning. Moving appliances, taking down curtains, pulling apart cabinets. Getting way down to the nitty gritty ya know? I kept thinkin there could be gross little fly babies hiding somewhere...EEEEEWEEWEWWWWWWW!!!!!

In my cleaning fervor I thought "God, what in the world am I to learn from this?? What can I possibly gain from bein down on my hands & knees cleaning everything inside & out because of nasty flies???"
He answered "SIN"
I'm being completely honest. It was clear as a bell.
"SIN"
I got to thinkin' when was the last time I put this much effort into cleaning out my heart? Have I really spent time going deep? Or has it just been the surface?
Get out my dishrag & do a quick once over thinkin "hmm... that looks good, I'll really get in there tomorrow"
Problem is, life happens & tomorrow never comes. Before ya know it, the heart which is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23) becomes over run with nasty buzzing thoughts & feelings which begin to overwhelm you. God's word encourages us to give Him access to our hearts.

Psalm 139:23-24 (King James Version)
23Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

So ladies, I ask you...when was the last time you went deep? When was the last time you allowed God to do a thorough cleaning? I encourage you to spend some time asking Him to bring to light what's beneath the surface.
It can & most likely will be messy & somewhat repulsive. But you'll be glad you did it.

The Blessed Zookeeper