Scripture: Yes, same routine as always — while the coffee maker's going
Silence: Yes, between the Duck Pond and our house after my run
The Deed/The Day: I was so not a brick house today. I was a miserable, torn-down shanty of a yurt. I pulled a big me-me-me-me-me in carpool today. I got so tired of hearing my kids act mean to each other this morning, that I began barking at them before we even got a block away from the house. I told them how much it hurt MY feelings when they fought and treated each other ugly. "Imagine how this junky meanness makes your mother feel." I made a snide impersonation of their protests. Ben left the car with a door slam once we got to school. That's how we started this beautiful day.
Would you believe this was the first thing in my email inbox? A Lenten devotional message from St. Mark's Episcopal Church across the river. Impeccable timing!:
"While my children truly do light up my world, parenting can be exhausting. In the moments when I feel most challenged, I am usually focused on how hard the situation is for me. I often seek God’s help and deliverance for my own sake, but recently I changed my prayer. Rather than argue with my son, I prayed that God would deliver my son from his troubles, and I was blessed with a revelation.
In a flash, my frustration vanished, both patience and understanding came to me, and I was filled with compassion. I saw how absolutely frustrating life must be for him sometimes as he struggles to make sense of the world around him. I asked him if he wanted to cuddle. He looked up tenderly, with a puffy red-face, and nodded his head. It was that simple, just cuddle. I held him and rocked him, and finally heard a huge sigh, a complete release of all his frustration.
Christ’s understanding never fails and it never wavers. Christ doesn’t have to wait for a revelation to know you need Him. He is the revelation. He is there to deliver you from your troubles. It is that simple. All you have to do is let Him hold you in His love. Let today be a day that you climb into the arms of the Holy Comforter and cuddle with Christ. Breathe deeply, and release all your troubles. Be comforted and feel complete, knowing that He delivers you each and every day."
So today's deed was to ask for forgiveness for a bad morning — and to pray for Ben's holy cuddle. Ben doesn't do cuddles much anymore, sniff, sniff. But surely God threw one his way when he wasn't looking.
Final thoughts: I have no final thoughts today!
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