Just an Ordinary Day & Ordinary Miracles - Thankful Thursday

This post should be titled "My Glamourous Life as a Mom"! ;-) DH has been out of town all week, so it has taken me 2 days to pull this one together. It's long and sappy, so considered yourself warned! And since it is now Thursday, this is also my "Thankful Thursday" post.

Today was one of those days where chaos ensued and my patience was put to the test. Add to that the fact that hubby is out of town and I have no back up - well, it could have been a really bad day! But instead, God nudged me gently and reminded me to STOP, enjoy the moment, enjoy the blessing! And what blessings and ordinary miracles there were to be found.

Ordinary Miracle #1
The day started off by me waking up late (like that never happens - yeah right!). Alex has to be up by 5:40 AM and on the bus by 6:15 AM. Now getting Alex out of bed is a monumental task that requires HUGE amounts of patience that just doesn't exist in me at that time of day. Today, I gave the poor boy just 20 minutes from regaining consciousness to jumping on the bus and all that must be done in between. Totally not fair to him, but he was a champ. He actually got out of bed, hurried through getting dressed, grabbed a bite and was off without too much pushing from me. Small miracle indeed - and one I was very grateful for. If he had missed the bus, I would have had to yank Linzi out of bed at dark-0-thirty to drive him to school. It is 20 miles round trip and Linzi would have been crying and whining the whole way. Let's just say that she shares her brother's resistance to mornings. Kindergarten is going to be tough.

Ordinary Miracle #2
My house is clean! The night before and after I got Alex off to school, I actually got every. corner. of. my. house clean before the rest could get messed up. All beds were made, all rooms clean, floors mopped and vacuumed, etc., etc. For one whole glorious day, it was all done at the same time. What's my trick? Do it while the kids are in bed and then when they wake up, LEAVE THE HOUSE AND DON'T COME BACK! LOL I am sure all moms can relate.

Ordinary Miracle #3
As the weather cools off, I am in desparate need of new clothes. I used to be very fashion conscious. That was when I still wore a size 5/6 and everything looked good on me. It was also before I had children. So today I tried on several things while Linzi, Ally & I had fascinating conversations in the dressing room. I am sure everyone else in the dressing room enjoyed our conversations as well. ;-) Nothing fit, nothing looked quite right and I left empty handed. Didn't even buy so much as a t-shirt. Where is the miracle here, other than the fact that I save DH a ton of $$$? Well, nothing fit because I am slowly, slowly losing weight. I am down one complete size and in between the next size down! I left empty handed and motivated to come back in a couple weeks to buy jeans 2 sizes smaller than I bought last year! Yeah baby!

Ordinary Miracle #4
Thank God for olive oil and the internet! I indulged Linzi with a pack of gum today. As we are standing in the middle of a certain girls' store in the mall, surrounded by a gazillion toys and bling, she only wanted a pack of gum and a Webk!nz. It seemed like a reasonable request, considering that the Webk!nz were on sale for $5.90 (normally $15.99) IF you made a purchase and the gum counted as a purchase. So I obliged, as long as she promised to share with Ally. She did. So how does olive oil and the internet fit in? Well, when we got home, Linzi had a HUGE wad of gum in her hair. And I did not have any peanut butter in the house. It never worked that well for me anyway. (Yes, I do have some experience with gum in the hair!) I was sure we were going to have to cut it out. It was smack on top of her head, cutting it would have created a nice little rooster tail at the crown of her head. Let me just also add that Linzi's hair grows very slowly and we would be haunted by the reminder of this incident for many months to come. The internet saved me with the suggestion of olive oil. IT WORKS like magic! All moms, tuck this away in your memory banks because, if you allow your small children to have gum, you WILL find yourself in this same situation sooner or later. Linzi's hair is now silky, shiny clean and not a single broken hair on top of her sweet little head.

Ordinary Miracle #5
Linzi took a nice nap today. This doesn't happen often. I cherish the afternoons that she drifts off. It gave me a chance to focus on some things I needed to do. There is A LOT I need to do.

Ordinary Miracle #6
Alex did ALL of his homework before 6:00. HUGE for him. Homework is a battle with him and me. It is the necessary evil and one that I am often afraid will be the thing that pushes him away from me. Today, there wasn't much of a battle. It did help that he was looking forward to what I had promised him later in the evening.

Ordinary Miracle #7 & 8
Mandi has been working so hard for her cheerleading competition this weekend. Her squad is AMAZING! Tonight, I got to see their full routine. They looked so good and tonight, I took pause to realize just how proud I am of my daughter. She has always been my "easy" child, and sometimes, it is really easy to lose sight of just how special she is. There is nothing ordinary about the miracle of my daughter and I am grateful to be reminded of this. While all the other parents were commiserating on how glad they were that this was the last practice and how inconvenient the schedule has been, I didn't feel the need to join in. It has been difficult shuffling all three kids, homework & dinner around this schedule. But the girls have worked so hard and that's what it's all about. The girls, this experience and that moment of glory in the middle of a huge arena. I am grateful that God gently adjusted my attitude - it would have been so easy for me to feel the same way as some of the other parents.

Mandi has a great position in the routine and will be easy to spot from the top rows of the arena that they will perform in. Shallow, I know. But I am secretly pleased that she will not be lost in the crowd of girls when the mamarazzi is filming. A very small, ordinary miracle for me and our family archives. :-)

Ordinary Miracle #9
While Mandi was at practice, I gave Alex his first driving lesson with me. He has only driven one other time with Eric. Today, it was my turn. There are so many thoughts, moments and emotions tied up with this one. Both funny, nostalgic and emotional. First of all, the huge miracle is that there was a time that it was altogether possible that my son may NEVER be able to learn to drive a car. Every milestone that we reach with him is so much more appreciated because of where we have been and we could have gone. My faith journey began at the lowest point in my life - when my son's future was in question. God has moved mountains for my son. He is a survivor. I have witnessed miracle after miracle with him. So the simple act of teaching him to drive a car brought up much more complex emotions than one would expect.

On to the funny parts. We found the perfect empty parking lot to practice in. It is a strip mall that is still under construction so there are no stores or traffic yet. The parking spaces are in place, there are medians to negoitiate, and perfect scenarios to set up. As we are changing places, Linzi says "GuhGuh is going to drive?!!! GuhGuh doesn't drive yet. Can I get out?" Sorry honey, if this plane goes down, we are all going down together!

At one point, we were stuck going toward the other end of the parking lot where there was a little traffic. I felt pretty comfortable in the moment, so I told him to just keep going. A few cars went by in the oncoming lane, and as they passed, Alex waved at each one. The first one or two, I barely noticed. But after the third one, I realized that he was going to wave at EVERYBODY who went by. LOL That's my sweet, friendly boy and that's why we have always called him "Sunshine". I was laughing so hard as I told him he did not need to wave at all the cars in traffic. Then another car passes, and he waves again! Can you just imagine him driving down the interstate, waving at everyone?! We had a great moment laughing hysterically together. We haven't had one of those moments in a while. The miracle of this moment was the laughter we shared and the glimpse of that sweet, sweet little boy that hides behind a typical, brooding, "I am way too cool for you" teenage boy's face.

And of course, I had to take pictures of this monumental event, much to his chagrin. :D I will post them after I have scrapped them.

Ordinary Miracle #10 & 11
Alex has always been very spiritual. Along with the desperation I felt in our situation when he was young, it was his own pull toward God that brought me there too. I don't know if I would have ever taken that step if it weren't for him. God used my own son to call me to Him. Now that he is in the high school youth group, Alex wants to be saved. He has completely initiated this on his own. Tonight, he asked me to review his email that he is sending to his youth group Pastor asking to be saved. It was three sentences long. Three of the most meaningful sentences I have ever read in my life. My son wants to publicly declare his faith. He wants to grow in his relationship with Christ. This email was his top priority tonight. Nothing ordinary about this one!

As I am still reeling from this, I was getting dinner out for the kids, checking on kitty outside, carrying on a phone conversation with DH and completely caught up in my chaotic little life. I motioned to Alex that dinner was on the table and left the room to find everyone else. When I came back, I found him, sitting alone at the table, saying his blessing before he ate. I was so touched by this ordinary moment. There was no one to say the blessing with, no one to remind him to say the blessing, no one to notice if he said the blessing at all. It was just him and God. That simple little act was proof of his conviction. I have never felt more proud. At the same time, my heart broke for the fact that I was so busy in the moment, that he had to sit by himself and say the blessing alone. I felt so ashamed of myself while I was bursting with pride for him.

Ordinary Miracle #12
Linzi ratted me out to daddy. DH is standing strong on his stance with the kitty. He doesn't mind us feeding it and taking care of it. He has a soft heart and would never let an animal go uncared for. But he refuses to go one step further and let us actually claim the cat as ours. He says if I have 3 cats, I will officially be a cat lady and he does not want to be married to the cat lady. He conjures up an image of an old, haggard lady with 20 cats- not attractive. So as soon as he leaves to go out of town, the kids are like "Hey, Dad's gone. Let's bring the kitty in!" The first night, I did the right thing and said we can't do that behind Dad's back. The second night, tonight, as I am talking on the phone while Alex is saying his blessing, the girls were not at the table because they had the cat in the house. I didn't even know what was happening when I handed the phone to Linzi to say hi. She gets on and says "Hi Daddy! We are petting Oliver in the house. He's sweet. He needs a family. Will you pet him in the house too?" Thanks dear! Luckily, Eric found humor in this and we laughed at the great example we are setting about honesty. He still hasn't budged on kitty though. Does anyone know of a good, loving home for the sweetest little kitten ever?! He is currently sleeping in a comfy basket on my doorstep and has claimed us. I am hoping DH will soften - not a far stretch, but a stretch all the same. :D

Thank you God for this life, for these children and for the reminders that You gave me today! It would have been so easy for me to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Instead, I am grateful and humbled by all that they teach me, the joy they bring to my heart and the honor of being their mother.

And if you are still reading, just one more ordinary miracle! LOL May your life be filled with the same small blessings that make each day a gift. Hugs to all!