(Unofficial) Summer Days...

Happy Unofficial Beginning of Summer!

May has been very rainy here. Imagine our joy when we saw that fiery orb in the sky yesterday! I was outside all day Saturday playing with beasties. They were happy and dirty. It was a beautiful day even if by dinner time my allergies were going haywire.

This morning the fiery orb was once again shining and it was h-o-t, by my standards anyway. (I am not a southern girl and 80 is too much for me. ;) ) The Husband took the three middles to the park to ride their bikes (a labor of love, let me tell you) and I supervised *I* trying to seriously injure himself riding his big brother's scooter. (Yes, he was wearing a helmet!)

This weekend we were busy being a family. It was fun, mostly. The children were sometimes listening impaired and there was a meltdown or two (and this Mama wanted to have one or two. ;) ). But, we were a good kind of busy. Sunny days are wonderful and have their own blessings. I was able to reprioritize what I did. Instead of completing the tasks I had been planning, I did what I was meant to do in that time, be a Mommy. I chased, kissed boo boos, carried a baby, caught crazy scooter riders before they careened into parked vehicles not our own, blew bubbles, made pizza dough, gave baths, read stories, said prayers, sang "Jesus Loves Me" and kissed little ones good night.

A day like that, like this, is satisfying. Exhausting but satisfying. It is in these normal "Mommy moments" that I most often feel God. It is in this serving, being in the moment with my family that I most need to be focused and am often feeling the most harried. With six kids there is a lot of action and noise so I can get overwhelmed and I have my own plans which the offspring are not always as interested in me fulfilling.

With God's help I can find the peace and focus I need to do and be what I need to do and be in the moments I am given. Each moment is a gift. I can choose to be in them or I can wish and worry them away.

I can enjoy sunny days with little children who won't always be little or I can tolerate them, pointedly looking at my watch and sighing, willing it to end so I can do what I want to do. I don't have to love chasing a wild scooter lover at the risk of my own toes or shins, but I can love the little boy grinning with the pleasure of his own accomplishment which makes me savor the moment.

I pray that we each can find the gift in each moment, even if they aren't spent the way we'd choose.

In the words of the Rolling Stones, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need."

-Peace