Now vs. Then

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Shoveling...that's what I'm doing these days. Shoveling my way out of laundry, diapers, and sticky messes. I find myself getting frustrated and wondering why it's not working like it used to. I remember when I had two kids I was able to keep the house fairly tidy, the children were bathed on a regular basis, I blogged daily, cooked a new recipe almost three times a week, and went to the gym every morning.

Why isn't it working now?

Finally, because I'm so slow sometimes, it dawned on me that things are so different now.

I have THREE kids, not TWO. The oldest wants to read, the middle one wants to play quietly with toys, the youngest wants to climb into the kitchen sink and hang from the rafters. So different then when I had two babies who's needs were basically the same.

Our church now is very young compared to the church we were in "way back then" which was more established.

I wasn't homeschooling then, I am now.

Why do I keep trying to squeeze my present into the past? It's only frustrating me and leaves me with a bigger pile of mental and physical "stuff" to shovel out of.

Thankfully, I know that my identity is not in a tidy house, and perfectly synchronized schedule. It's in Christ, who is so, so, so very patient with me.

I have to remind myself that going to the gym every morning, or three new meals a week are not eternal things.

So for now, I only cook food that don't require recipes. I don't blog as often. My house is a wreck because instead of cleaning it I take my three wiggly girls for a walk to meet our new neighbors and establish relationships.

So yeah, we eat lots of sandwiches, we take naps, we make messes, and pull out our clothes from large piles found on top of the dryer. We buy bread, we play PBSKids.org, and I haven't seen the inside of a gym in ages.

And those things are not eternal, but my girls souls are. So if I'm washing dishes and I notice one sulking, I leave the dishes and talk to Miss Pouty, give her the Gospel, pray with her, correct her and then move on to something else.

The dishes will get done, eventually.

And that, is where we're at NOW.




4 comments:

Sarah Joy said...

Yep.

Jackie said...

Sarah, so nice to hear the word "Yep." !! I'm not alone! :)

Sarah Joy said...

Nope. ;) We've got four, and the pace is frantic sometimes. Especially when we started school. I get spazzed easily, so stopping what I'm doing and hitting "reset" on the stress button is necessary for me.
The Good Shepherd doesn't make the lambs and mother sheep go at the same pace as the others. Growing up lambs is too important.

Unknown said...

you are so wise jackie. I'm glad you are so intuned to what is right.