Although I love quality time with people--and crave more than I often get--some weekends are so overstimulating I feel like I'm going to... well, the phrase "stark raving mad" comes to mind. With the demands of the my school session wrapping up (plus, an unexpected project coming due), company in town (whom I love by the way), my baby girl's teething fury, and five hours of sleep, I nearly lost my composure on more than one occasion. Sunday afternoon, exhausted and frustrated with my daughter, I knew I had to either take her for a walk or I'd be sorry. Thankfully, Maddie loves walks and turns quiet when we stroll, which aloud me to rest and think. Burning off the adrenaline, I had to assess why I was so angry.
Expectations.
I had expected my daughter not to act like a brat the whole weekend our friends were in town. I had expected to get more than 5 hours of sleep. I had expected to be able to take a brief nap that afternoon. I had expected some downtime while Maddie slept. I had expected a long list of things that were not coming to fruition and I was focusing on the negative.
So, I decided to just start thanking God for all the things I could. Let me tell you, it was not a pleasant experience. Shamefully, I was mad and I wanted to stay that way--not really, but you know. I wanted to vent and complain to God, which I did, but I didn't want to thank him. Still, I did it. And after about the fifth or sixth item, I started feeling better. My life was good. So I'm tired and burned out; what mom isn't? So I'm not going to get a nap today; many won't. By the time I returned to the house, my spirit was more in line with God's character and I felt so much better. And as a beautiful gift, my parents pulled up just at that moment and offered to take Maddie on a walk with them. I returned to my house and slept for an hour, feeling like a whole new person afterwards. God is so good.
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