Five Blessings | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Five Blessings | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dot Hannah
03/08/18
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Five Blessings

It is another hectic, disorganized, rat race day. When you have five kids, you rarely see calm, peaceful ones, always a mess or two, or three to clean up. I am used to it, but I still long for a clean house, and to be able to sit quietly and just enjoy a cup of coffee.

This particular day, I decide to decorate my table for autumn. The cool temps and dancing yellow leaves have put me in the mood. I put my pretty tablecloth on the table and place my pilgrim people in the center. Then I rinse the dirty dishes and place them in the dishwasher. The living room is upside down so it is next on my agenda. Awhile later, I walk back through the kitchen and notice that the kitten has scratched up my tablecloth, and one of the kids has broken the pilgrims. My fat and sassy two year old, Silas, loves to climb on the table, now that he can, and wreak havoc. He is a walking warehouse of mischief, nicknamed, “The Destroyer.” I have a spirited discussion with him and say with a look of annoyance, “I can’t have anything nice.” My four year old daughter says, “Don’t worry Mama. We can always buy more fake people.” I look wearily at her, but a faint smile is in my heart. Oh to have the prospective of a child.

I quickly turn on the oven to start preparing dinner. Soon, I smell something peculiar, something burning. I rush over and open the oven door. There is the piece to my vacuum that I couldn’t find, a melted heap of plastic now. Silas has learned something new, how to open the oven door. I ask the Lord, “Are You sort of testing me today? He doesn’t answer, but I sense Him saying, “Don’t ask questions.” My days are filled with constant motion and endless surprises. I close my eyes for a scant five minutes and open them to see that Silas has taken all his clothes off and colored himself from top to bottom with permanent markers, like a brightly lit Christmas tree. I tell myself, “You better laugh, or you will cry.”

My home is no showplace, but that’s alright, my kids are. They are showplace blessings. Life is a long lesson in humility. I have been in homes of well-bred ladies who sit like stone in order to keep everything in place. They want perfection but pay no attention to real beauty, burdened down with the mountains and missing the adventure. The Lord tells me, “That’s not your assignment. I’ve got a real important assignment for you.” So, I try to remember this when I am at the end of my rope and too tired to make another step. I believe God makes strong the weakest. Like the other day when Silas managed to take out the entire bottom rack of the dishwasher, dishes and all, and wheel it through the living room like he had a splendid new toy. You can’t make this stuff up. My mind seems to say, “Don’t scold him. He has a heart, and you can break it.” Children are not wired to be wall flowers but adventurers.

There are days when I feel time passing, and my heart is sad. My older children, once little boys in overalls, also went through this phase, but are growing up. Those memories catch my heart. I choke up until I can hardly breathe. The Lord speaks to me, “Enjoy every day and don’t worry about the messes. One day, when you look back, it will not be the messes you remember.” He’s right. The big boys are disinterested in me biding them happy dreams of sugarplums as they go off to bed. I still sneak into their rooms and kiss their cheeks anyway.

It has been another long day so I will shuffle to my room. Today’s messes and mishaps, will silently steal away, and be forgotten. No need of an alarm clock, it will begin again tomorrow, bright and early, but not always. These five gifts are not permanent, only on loan temporarily.

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