“As soon as they hear of me
they obey me…” Psalm 18:44
they obey me…” Psalm 18:44
This is a description of Granna’s day today, May 7, 2014 with five children, two being my grandsons.
Since Mother’s Day is this Sunday, I thought the children might like to do a craft for their mommy. The chosen craft is a bookmark. Like most of the time, I’ve pre-readied; you have to, knowing the attention span of children! Clear contact paper cut in shape of bookmark. Check! Decorations sorted. Check! Children placed in seats. Check! Let’s have some fun! Each child selects the decorations they want to use; around the table I go. After I punch out the little centers of their selected flowers each child places it on the sticky contact paper. My four year old grandson, Jude, asked if he could punch out his own and I said, “Sure!” By the time I get around to help him he says, “Oh no!” I asked, “What’s wrong?” Putting his hand over his ear he said, “That piece of flower is stuck down in my ear!” I go get the tweezers to do my first ear surgery! With prayer and precision it was successful!
That was the prelude to this wild and crazy, yet controlled, day! Here comes the remaining…
Their part of the craft completed and left for me to do the final touches; Jude is playing and runs into the door; I killed bumble bee to no longer be a threat to these precious darlins; Two mishaps outside with children having to learn to be nice; As children play I try to finish craft; Making lunch; Jude now slips on rug and hurts knee; Feed my 6-month old grandson, Reid; Call children in from outside and line them up to wash hands, give thanks to God for lunch and serve these hungry souls; in between serving them I try putting on my makeup (I normally don’t put makeup on but church is tonight) and feed myself a sandwich; finally sit down and our small dog lets me know he needs to go outside to do his business; the little ones finish lunch and downtime begins by watching the movie “Frozen”; Let dog back in and almost have seated, when Reid, who had been playing while the others ate, begins to give me the tired cry. I leave my lunch once again and rock the sleepy babe; after I have laid him down for his nap I return to find a princess who had fallen asleep in the chair while watching the movie. So I pick her up and lay her in her bed of rest; Aahh… back to my lunch and only have mascara left to put on to complete the task of fixing my face. As I twist the lid to the mascara open I wonder if an “I need attention” will interrupt once again… Makeup. Check! Finally, the last two bites of that drawn out lunch are placed quickly into my mouth! Lunch. Check!
Because it has been an unusual day of a couple of visits to the corner, before nap, I have each child, one at a time sit in my lap for a little heart to heart. There was a time a while back when the corners of the house were occupied that I had shared with them about how wild horses have to be trained to do what is right and best for them. Each time they have to go to the corner it is to teach good. So, as they sat in my lap I said, “You remember the story I told you about how wild horses have to be trained? Well, Granna loves you and wants the best for you. You need to mind so you can be your best. We work as a team. Okay?” “Okay.” “Granna loves you!” “I love you!” Next…
So, then to the potty stop, sing Jesus Loves Me, and down for naps.
Now in the quiet; I write, I listen for God’s direction in this stillness. Then wondering, “How can I ride in God’s pocket, fulfill purpose and serve Him within these four walls with five children?” I can, I have and will continue. You see, God spoke to my heart revealing that like the little ones who need to learn valuable lessons, I do too; a wild horse. All along He was training me. For a long while now my prayer has been to really exhibit the fruits of the spirit; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Although today seemed like a tossed fruit salad that never lands in the bowl, it actually did land! God was present and never let go of the reins; the fruits displayed; a wild horse trained to victory!
These thoughts take me back to October 11, 2012; the day my granddaughter, Briley Faith was born. Every day of her 61 days God was present amid the worldly chaos; tossed fruit salad; wild horses. It was a time where I could have made “withdrawal to life” excusable, but didn’t. Did Briley Faith’s mommy and daddy ever shake off the reins, give up? You know, God does give us a choice. They didn’t. Throughout the prognosis, pain, long nights, lost sleep, tears, and hurt for their little girl who was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 0, the most severe; the reins were evident with every turn. Every step God was guiding, teaching, loving… guiding, teaching, loving… guiding, teaching, loving… The reins remained allowing God to reign.
It seems I feel His presence more when I write, maybe because it is my purpose, I don’t know; or better yet, it’s a love relationship time with my Savior. So, still in the quiet I write; a wild horse yearning for His presence, my guide, my constant, my friend.
My little wild horses awake. I go to the front door and remove the “Shhh… Children napping. Please knock.” sign. As I look out into the yard, I see a female cardinal gracefully land right below my doorstep with a reminder; God reigns here.
Beautiful Briley Faith continues to teach me as she looks back at me from a picture I have; her eyes speaking to me again. I never thought of the tubing around her mouth and back over her ears as a representation of a rein expressing God’s guiding presence and her submission…
