Equipped by Him

I write to you a tired, weary mother tonight. My sweet little Jack and I (accompanied by his baby sister) spent the day in and out of numerous doctors offices and finished our day at the orthopedic clinic at Children's Hospital where he was fitted for his full leg cast and given a walker to assist him for the next 4 weeks.

Broken bones stink. But they heal- and this time of recovery for us is only temporary. All day I was reminded of this. I am dealing with this for such a short time - be patient.

I will spare you the details and just share what I've learned. After being to the pediatricians office this morning, promptly sent to Urgent Care for an X Ray, then on to Orthopedics at CHW and finally over to Physical Therapy I can honestly say that I'm grateful. God equipped me with such patience today and for that I am grateful. My poor sweet boy cried and whined all morning of his "owies", I slept about 3 winks last night, woke early to tend to his injury and have spent all day in and out of various clinics and offices. I am grateful that my sweet child is healthy and well and that this broken bone will mend itself (beneath a pile of itchy, sweaty bandages) and that he will walk and run and play once again. I'm thankful.

God is so good to remind me of these things in the times I would imagine myself being a complete basket case. I am proud to say that I conducted myself as a quiet, patient, composed mother-of-two - but for this I cannot take the credit. When I overheard a mom lose it with her children in the parking lot of the urgent care I was reminded that I need to be patient. God did this - not me. He has equipped me.

When I approached the Valet at CHW today I saw a mother, father and son going for a "walk". The father pushed the boy in a wheelchair and the mother, who resembled that of a sleep-walking zombie, followed behind pulling with her the tubes and IVs that were attached to their young son. This immediately gave me a sense of relief. Relief that my child would only be here temporarily - a few hours at most - and that he would recover from this little injury and return to his life as a normal functioning 4 year old boy.

At the orthopedic office there was a girl who had both her legs casted and a bar between them - she was screaming as they cut the casts off. I was again grateful that my sweet child only has to endure 1 cast. All these little things added up to a lot of thankful moments in what should have been a frustrating and sorrowful day.

Not to worry - I had my share of sadness today. My Jack is going to miss all the fun that he's literally been counting down to - Bay Beach with all his cousins this weekend. The tears and sadness that poured over his face when I told him we'd have to skip was just heart breaking. He won't be able to swim in his pool or play outside for the next 4 weeks. His temporary disability has brought me much sadness - but the sweet relief of knowing that he will once again play and run and jump and swim is where I find my rest. Bay Beach will come again next year - and the memories we can laugh about remembering his stint in a cast will be so sweet. He'll get to bring his little sis along for all the fun and rides next year - which will make it even sweeter to witness.

My prayer tonight is for all the mothers of children who do not have the fortune of my little Jack. Those who's lives are built around appointments and specialists and clinics and surgeries and medicine and the list goes on...and on...and on. My prayer for them is peace, understanding why God has you in this place and for rest. Be strong and carry on - it's what mom's do every day. But you don't have to be strong in front of God - He will bring you peace and understanding and rest. His strength is shown through our weakness.

I just wanted to remember this day and how grateful I am to serve a loving God, a God that in such trying times would equip me with patience and gratitude. This is surely a day for Jack's memory book. Here's to hoping the next 4 weeks are handled with as much grace as this day...

From the Farm,
A Sad & Tired "Farmers Wife"

Pirate Party Take 2!

Well, it wouldn't be August 7 without my annual blog post about my birthday boy! Remember after last years party I joked about having to plan 2 parties this year...who knew that'd come true!? Although I don't really have to plan two parties until NEXT year...but you know what I mean.

So Jack is 4 today. Man, that went fast. Time sure does fly. There. I said it. Again. I pretty much should just rename my blog "Time Flies" because I say it at least 3 times in every post. But for real. It does.

My little birthday boy requested a Pirate Party this year, which is funny because I threw him a Pirate Party for his 1st birthday, 3 years ago. Man times flies...haha just kidding. You thought I was crazy for a second, didn't you?

So when he asked for a Jake & the Neverland Pirates party this year I was a little hesitant, but he's finally old enough to tell me what he wants, so I thought "what the heck" let's do it again!

I mean he was so stinkin cute the first time around, I figured he's be pretty stinkin cute this time too! And I was right...

Fortunately for me this year has gone a lot more smoothly as far as preparing for the party. I scaled it WAY back, since the farmer and I want to throw an all out bash for his 5th next year...and I all but filed us for bankruptcy after last years "carnival". I think the farmer still has nightmares about that credit card bill...

I'll do my best to post some pictures  post-party. For now I need to go draw up a treasure map and fill some water balloons. Maybe I'll vacuum, or maybe I'll just hope no one looks that close...yep, probably that one.

I have to say that Jack is just the sweetest kid, he's so grateful! I did one of those pinterest plastic table cloth streamer decoration things...did anyone understand that? Anyways, I was working on it and Jack came over, watched for a minute and said "Wow, Mom. That looks great!" A little while later after the tables were all set up and decorated he said again, "Mom, the tables look great! Thank you!" I mean seriously, I can't make this stuff up if I tried. He's just so precious to me. I hope he has a great day and enjoys his pirate party! I just love that kid!

Sincerely,
The Farmer's [much less-frazzled] Wife

My Floors Might be Sticky, but My Children Will Only be Young Once...

As I lay in bed unable to sleep, God just laid these thoughts on my heart, so I decided to share. I am baffled once again at just how quickly time flies. I spent a few minutes tonight looking at old videos of my little Jack when he was about 2 years old. He has grown so much over the past 2 years and matured into a little boy, he's no longer a toddler who struggles to articulate his thoughts. He's now quite the opposite. Talking non-stop and soaking up knowledge like a sponge.

I have realized once again just how precious these moments really are. As I tried to clean up tonight after dinner, Jack begged me to play a new game with him. Earlier today I had promised that after dinner and after he cleaned up all his things in the living room we could play his new game. He waited patiently all day and when the time came he put away all his things and obeyed all my requests. Somehow I still found myself buried in housework, baby crying, dishes piled to the ceiling-all while the oblivious farmer relaxing after a day of work on the farm watched TV - and all my little Jack wanted to do was play his game.

This is making me teary just reliving it-and it was only a few hours ago. It seems each time I struggle to regain order in my house I am reminded of this little poem:

Cleaning your house 
while the children are growing
Is like shoveling the walk
while it is still snowing.

Now whoever penned those words was seriously a genius. I mean is that not the truth? And so these are the thoughts I have on my heart. Be intentional. I told Jack I would play that game with him, and had full intentions of stopping what I was doing and taking some time to play with him. I got caught up, as usual, when I should have just quit for the night and spent the time I had promised. Make the most of my time. Honestly, there will come a day when my floors won't be sticky, and the dishes will all be clean and put away and I'll get around to vacuuming daily. But when those days come, gone will be the board games and Disney Jr, and tickling little toes and singing songs, and wiping booger noses and morning snuggles, bedtime prayers and the rock-a-bye babies (which I still sing to the gonna-be-4-year-old). All those things will be only memories, in fact it will probably all be a blur. So for right now, in this moment, if my floors are sticky and my sink full of dishes - I will cherish the fact that my home is filled with laughter and my arms are full of hugs because these times are fleeting and they certainly won't last forever. Be patient. This one is easier said than done. There are moments in my day when I stop and give gratitude to God for the patience He's equipped me with. I blow myself away sometimes when I realize how patient I am! And then there's times when I need to stop and ask God (and my 4 year old) for grace because I reacted poorly and had little patience. We all make mistakes, but patience is one of those things that kids will remember. I want my kids to remember my patience. Be grateful for life's blessings. I am blessed to be able to spend time at home with my children. That is something I need to remind myself of everyday. This job is a blessing. And there's no one better for this job than me. That's why God hired me to take care of and love these babies. Because He knows best.

Now if I could just be reminded of these simple things everyday, and not while I am laying in bed recounting my day. It's times like now when I am trying to figure out what I did well and what I could have done better that I am grateful for, but wished would come at more opportune times. I did, by the way, play Jack's new game with him and it was fun and I know it meant the world to him. And the sink is still full of dishes. I will get to those tomorrow...

Good night from the farm,
-The Farmer's [tired] Wife