I woke up feeling very down and discouraged this morning (which seems sad since it’s the Lord’s Day and should be filled with rejoicing). I went to bed at a decent hour so it wasn’t a sleep-deprivation reaction. I think I was disappointed at how little I had accomplished on Saturday, weary with thoughts of a busy day, and overwhelmed that Monday was rapidly approaching and with it, a week full of homeschooling and life’s activities.
After a hot shower (which, alone, practically makes life bearable) I was pleased to see Tim in the bedroom, reading his book. I walked over to him, sat down, and probably looked as lifeless as I felt. Without me saying anything, Tim took my hand and said, “Shall we pray for the day?” I tried to ask him later how he knew that was just what I needed and he didn’t have a concrete answer. It was an action, I think, that comes out of a sensitivity to his role as spiritual leader of our family. He knows how to cheer me up with words – I’ve often asked for a ‘Tim Pep Talk’ – and he is a great listener but the thing that had real power to change my attitude and situation was not words or a listening ear but PRAYER! Tim recognized that and met my unspoken request with authority and leadership.
What a blessing!
Did I immediately feel cheerful and bouncy? No. Did my “To Do” list magically disappear? No. Did my heart tune in to God’s purpose for the day? Yes. Did the Lord renew my spirit and give me a peace about the day? Absolutely.
We went on to have a great Sunday. It was full of people and Bible study and little ones. Sunday School was excellent. Tim led us through the second half of I Corinthians 6. I worked in the preschool room during the church service. Daniel came in and helped me – another blessing. Having him there brings an extra energy to the hour. He plays with the children, separates trouble makers, passes out snacks, and is just all around a tremendous helper. I am always glad to have him assist me in the class.
Sarah had a blast in her class.
After church, Tim and the children did all the lunch preparation so I could tackle the Christmas decorations. The Lord answered my prayers for a joyful spirit and I cheerfully (and speedily) got everything put away. Joshua hauled all the bins out the garage, helped me move the couch away from the wall, and then loaded Christmas containers into place. He also put away the folding table that was cluttering up the living room. Tim found spots for the smaller ornament boxes. The work on the garage continues.
We watched Savannah Smiles during lunch – an old movie, made in the early 1980′s. It’s a sweet story with a poignant ending that had us all in tears.
What caught us all completely off guard was Sarah. After the movie was over and we were cleaning up, I saw Sarah on Cream Puff crying. Thinking she had pinched her finger or hurt herself, I went over to find out what was wrong. Finally she told me, in strangled words, “The movie!” What a sweetie pie! She was sad about the ending when the men have to say goodbye to the little girl and end up going back to prison. Personally, I wasn’t aware that she was cognizant enough of the movie’s plot to have such a tender reaction. Tim hugged her tight and gave her his “happy ending” version which cheered us all up.
Tim managed to get a smile out of Sarah.
Tim and I decided to preview the Love and Respect dvd for the evening’s Bible study. It worked out perfectly – I cleaned the kitchen and made pizza dough while Tim took notes on this week’s marriage session. We’ve been rather unsatisfied with the discussion questions in the workbook (although it does have some great supplemental scripture passages which I think are worth reading) so we thought we would write some of our own. Tim was planning to work in the nursery during the video time so it was an opportunity for him to watch the DVD and keep up with the material.
We had a potluck and ‘business’ meeting before Small Group. I made 6 full size pizzas (if I was Emily in FL I would have pictures of all of this – I really need to be better about grabbing my camera) and the rest of the group brought desserts and side dishes. Unfortunately several members of our group were unable to attend so we had a smaller group. Not so unfortunately, that meant we ended up lots of leftover pizza. Hooray! I was even able to send a whole unbaked pizza home with Holly. My family is ALWAYS thrilled with leftover pizza. Of course, with a 13 year old boy in the house, leftovers don’t survive quite as long as they used to. Ha!
Give this starving boy some pizza!
I continue to be convicted in the area of respecting my husband. Tonight we discussed the idea of men needing unconditional respect just as women need unconditional love. You would never tell your wife, “I will love you as soon as you are worthy of it.” And yet do we tell men, “I will respect you once you show yourself worthy.”??
Ephesians 5:33
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
It has been fascinating going through the series with other couples. After viewing the DVD, we split up into groups (men in one room and women in the other) and talk about what we watched and what we are learning. I think all of the wives are truly surprised to hear how important respect is to our husbands and how much they crave and need it. Tonight we made a list of 5 ways our husband/wife could show respect/love to us. The whole series is certainly creating a lot of discussion in our home. So far the men have all heartily agreed with the points Dr. Eggerich makes. Now to put what we are learning into practice and get off the Crazy Cycle!
I have to share one last set of pictures (that are completely unrelated to today’s blog). I think each of the children have, at one point or another, fallen asleep while reading/holding a book. I don’t know how many I have captured on film (would take some serious searching to find them). It always brings a rush of tender feelings to see the children as it reminds me so much of my father. He is, literally, never without a book so there have been many times when we’ve caught him holding his book upright with his eyes shut. I would love for my children to be like my father and to enjoy reading as much as he does so it tickles me to catch moments like this.
Sarah was asleep but Rachel read on. Time for bed, girlie!
Kathy
I also was caught off-guard by Sarah’s response to Savannah Smiles. She is definitely growing in her comprehensive abilities … I felt badly that we had exposed her to such a sad movie-ending without preparing her very well to handle it. Hopefully my ‘happy ending’ version will stick with her.
After we finished cheering up Sarah, Kathy looked up the actress in the movie who played Savannah and discovered that she died at the age of 22 of a drug overdose … not a very happy ending at all. I thought about how God must feel to see one of His creations lose their life in that way, and it made me sad all over again.
I was proud of Daniel and his work in the toddler room at church — when I came in to collect Kathy after church, he was organizing some sort of game with a bunch of little girls, holding hands in a circle. He is a sweet and kindly boy, well-appreciated by many of the moms we know.
Thanks for blogging your day, Kathy. It turned out well, probably thanks to the prayers.
What a shame some of us feel so exhausted at the thought of a Sunday’s worth of actvity. Most of mine are like that too. I’m sure it’s not supposed to be like that!
Dorothy
Thanks for the reminder to respect my husband! I really wish I was in a Bible study with you guys. We’re thinking again about joining a small group, but with (only) four kids, it feels burdensome because the group will definitely have to think about the babysitting issue once we come. Do your kids do the babysitting? Or do you have outside help? Or do kids not come? (I’d sort of like a group that welcomes kids. My kids made such great friends from our old group.)
Rachel–I LOVE communicating with you via our blogs! I miss you! Our Small Group is one of the only in the church with LOTS and LOTS of kids. They listed us as a family-centered group and voila, we definitely have families with children. Recently we added in another family with five children, seriously bosting our numbers but bringing in some great friends for our older ones (they are from our homeschooling co-op).
We’ve done all sorts of things regarding child care. At the very beginning of the group we were an official church group and had to follow their child care policy — two babysitters who have been through the Risk Prevention class at the church — even though we met in our home. That was pricy but it worked out okay. After that session ended we moved to handling our own child care (ie the kids played in the other parts of the house by themselves). For the most part this has worked out. We have some older kids who can help with the younger ones.
Recently, however, it has become a bit of an issue. Mainly because we are trying to watch a DVD series (and need to concentrate and listen to the speaker) and the children (20 if everyone attends) are a bit disruptive. We moved our group to the church (where we can have the children in one of the big nursery/preschool rooms) but that requires we hire two babysitters. Since several families have older children, it seems a bit silly to hire sitters, but to be “approved” caregivers they have to go through the church’s training class. Anyway, this is really long. Sorry. I LOVE it that our group is open to families and have big groups of children at our meetings. We’re going to try having the children back at our house with the older kids as sitters and firm instructions that they not disturb during the DVD and discussion time. We’ll see how it goes. Ha!
I would definitely recommend getting into a group. Surely it’s worth the time and sacrifice ($$) to be in a fellowship group. I think getting a babysitter and letting the kids all be together in another room can work great. Don’t you have a nice big house??
We don’t have a basement but we have a big garage that is converted into a play room of sorts and a big master bedroom that the little girls can use for dolls and such. I’ll let you know how it works. Kathy
Kathy, that is so sweet about Sarah’s sensitivity to the movie. Landon, my 11 year old has such a tender spirit like that . During Christmas we watched the movie the Christmas Shoes. After the movie was over we were picking up the family room and I looked over at Landon and he was crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said that the movie got to him
Emily–we watched The Christmas Shoes this year as well (we are BIG Christmas movie people) and my 9 year old was very choked up. He talked about it for a long time and claimed the song as one of his favorites. It’s sweet when they have that sensitivity to loss and death.
Hi, What happens in the Chritmas Shoes?
I cried to read of Tim’s sitting right down and praying with you RIGHT when you needed prayer. I’m wondering if you know how VERY proud your Nana would be of you, your marriage and family.
I love you.AK
Aunt Kate–Christmas Shoes is the movie made from the hit song where the man meets a boy in the store buying shoes for his dying mother.
“Daddy says there’s not much time – You see she’s been sick for quite a while – And I know these shoes will make her smile – And I want it to look beautiful – If Momma meets Jesus tonight”
Definitely a tear jerker!
I’m thankful for the amazing example Nana set for me in putting marriage and my husband first. She and Grandaddy truly gave me a wonderful godly heritage for which Tim and I (and our children) are so blessed.
Love you!
Kath,
Thanks for the big response! Reading it, I’m realizing that maybe babysitting wouldn’t be as big a deal as when we stopped. Our old group had 17 kids all under age 8, with lots of little ones, so we definitely needed babysitters, and we just had an incredibly hard time finding anyone who wanted to do it consistently. What teenager doesn’t want to watch 17 kids?!
But now that Abby’s almost 10, it might be easier (she’s great with Andy), and we’d join a different group, so maybe the mix would be easier, too. And we could certainly host. We’ll let you know how things progress.