Opportunity

I loved the statement in Evan Almight that says, "When you ask God for something, does He always give it to you? Or does He give you the opportunity for it?" Not sure how Biblical this is but it has helped me to approach some things differently. Like the example of patience... you know we're always asking God for more patience and then we joke about all the chances we have to practice it.

Well, I've asked God to help me be more patient, more gracious, more loving with my children and today was the biggest opportunity for me to practice it.

Today was a very challenging day for me... I'm not feeling well, can hardly breathe am tired from rough nights of sleeping and staying up to late to get work done. I'm not sure what's going on with Isaiah... he was a mess today, crying at everything. I'm beginning to think that maybe he is not feeling well but it took every bone in my body not to scream at the top of my lungs. I gave out lots of hugs, which I will never complain about but I also had to give out several timeouts... something that just breaks my heart. I've never had such a rough time with him as I did today.

I took about an hour nap after lunch and it gave me some much needed energy but what really strengthened me was taking my 15 minutes to do my daily Bible reading. Still in Job, I'm reading a response from one of Job's friends about how great and mighty God is.

I wasn't perfect today and at bedtime, I did lose it a bit with Isaiah but God is gracious... willing to forgive me and give me another chance. He reminded me that I can't be lenient all the time with my children. They need to know boundaries and just as I deal with consequences from my mistakes, my children will too.

God blessed me when the older two finally fell asleep... for almost 30 minutes, Eliza just talked and squealed... what a sweet sound that was. It reminded me that no matter how rough some nights may be, I wouldn't trade my children for anything. I'm so very blessed to have them in my life.