A week without children and I am full of gifts from God, simple blessings, quiet moments, and beautiful thoughts.
I have exercised my body and exercised my soul. I am rested, having slept more than I have in months.
Mr. Fantastic and I have talked and laughed, gone to dinner and gone crazy over the love we feel when we are together.
I have found lost library books, organized closets, and finished the laundry all at once this week.
I addressed envelopes for the church, attended a precious prayer meeting, and wrote a guest post for another website.
And I sit on my sofa and wonder what it will be like when we drive to pick up our little people.
I am a wife, a mama, and a minister. I can do two of those three roles well at a time. I can cook dinner and teach the kids their history lesson but I can’t help organize that church event. I can write a blog post and mediate a Lego argument, however dinner will have to be take-out. I can meet with someone who needs counsel and fold the laundry, as long as the kids are already in bed.
I am two out of three. But I really long to do all three with grace at the same time.
That will require more strength, more discipline, more faith, and more patience. The need to be this three out of three woman weighs heavily until I remember who I was when Christ died for me.
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”
– Romans 5:3-6
Utterly helpless. That certainly describes how I feel when the laundry piles high, the kids are fighting, and I am supposed to be at a meeting five minutes ago.
Christ has never left me alone. He always offers me the answer to the equation of my life, the solution to my weighty problems, and the cure for my unendurable sickness.
Without Him I am utterly helpless. I have been looking at His love all week long, and I can feel the shade of His mercy covering the burnt places of my soul.
His grace makes me a strong three out of three. Monday I will gather my children and bring them home with renewed hope in Christ’s empowering presence and merciful love.
And this hope will not lead to disappointment….
