Back to school!!

We are a few hours in, and we already have tears, an argument, and a complete melt down over an art project. I have cinnamon roll icing in my hair, my coffee is cold, and well... the letter board behind me is so true. "My house looks like I'm losing a game of Jumanji." Happy school year, y'all! Ha! I sent a text to my husband, saying that I might run away! 

Some days are just like that. A mess. The day before that? It was a total win. All kids got along, helped clean house, dinner was great, and my "wife game" was on point. But the common factor in both winning days and losing days is bed time... new mercies in the morning.

 I have to remind myself daily that as important as it is that I keep my kids taken care of, it is also as important that I take care of myself. Sometimes moms don't have a minute to breathe, or heck, even go to the restroom by yourself! Most of the time, as soon as I close the bathroom door someone yells MOOOOM!! Or my great dane shows up at the door and will not let me close the door. He will whine until I open the door. Because, you know...the world might end in the 2 minutes that it takes me to pee. TMI, but it is real life! 

Let's get back to my point.

We have to learn to love ourselves through the hard days. In our terrible day that I talked about in the beginning of this blog, I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Lunch time rolled around, and Jesse Ava wanted to help cook. I'm so grateful for her servant heart. I asked her to put chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries on a cookie sheet. She argued with me that there would be plenty of space for everything on one pan. She laid everything out meticulously, taking more time than I wanted her to take. When she went to put it in the oven, it was too heavy, and it all dumped on to the bottom of the oven. Jesse Ava burst into tears. I rushed over to hug her and help clean up. I kept telling her "It's ok Jesse. It's no big deal! We can start over." I could have said the dreaded I told you so, but I love her so much and want to encourage and love her when tough times come...no matter how big or small.

Tired and worn out Mom, it is the same for you on your hard days. Learning to love yourself daily is so important. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Just like we love our kids through the big and little things, God loves you even more.   

God isn't keeping a tally of your crap days.

Just as you are patient when your child has a bad day, please offer yourself that kind of grace. You are LOVED. You are VALUABLE. You are so WORTH IT. You are SEEN.

You can do this!

On Wednesdays we do our homeschool work at a local coffee shop. (Minus the boy child. He doesn't like the background noise.) I included a picture from today to prove that we all survived our bad day. I am grateful for new mercies, and COFFEE. :)