Since we told the kids about the Disney trip, they have been using everything Disney they have, creating art about Disney, and just generally finding every way possible they can think of to celebrate the thought of Disney. Caeden has been wearing his Mickey ears hat around the house at all times.
Yesterday, I was having "one of those days" where I was just feeling really [the bad kind of] overwhelmed about all I needed to get done, how messy and dirty the house was, how I am not keeping up with life as well as I want to, and so on...
I'd been at the school all afternoon, helping with the junior high choir and going to the assembly to see Sylvia awarded. I took the kids right from school into town for their music lessons. (I did have the presence of mind [Thank you, Jesus!] to take them to Wendy's for a quick Frosty for an after-school-snack, which was really fun.) Then, I dropped them off at lessons and did some speed-shopping at Kroger, picked them up from lessons, drove home, unloaded all the groceries in the cold. I was getting weepy by that point, and the kids were all wonderful and helped me unload and put groceries away.
We ate fried chicken and potato chips I'd picked up at the store for supper. (Eek, how bad for us, I know!!) The girls started in on homework and showers, and I had to, had to, had to sit down and practice music for a funeral that was today. (That's another story, which includes my bad attitude and how God really wanted me to do something I didn't want to do. Maybe I'll get to it later in the post...) Anyway, as I was practicing, I decided to get up and make some hot tea. When I walked into our filthy, messy kitchen, this is what I saw, and it brought me to tears...
Now, I was not in tears over the filthy, messy kitchen (You would think!), but over the fact that Caeden was standing there by himself, singing, rinsing dishes, and loading the dishwasher! He is such a stubborn boy, and complains all day long every day about every chore he is asked to do. So, when I saw him happily doing something I didn't even ask him to do, doing it joyfully, doing it by himself, and doing it because he knew it would help his mommy...I was completely overcome with emotion. I cried, thanked him and told him how much it was helping me, how much it meant to me, and that he is a good boy. (I think he probably half-thought I was a bit nuts, but he is getting used to my bursting into tears at any random time.) He just said, "You're welcome, Mommy. Sylvia helped too. I'm just in a good mood, so I am happy to help." Ahhhh, such a blessing from the Lord that was!!
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So, today I had the honor of being the pianist for the funeral of a pastor on our district. I had never met this pastor, but was asked by our District Superintendent, through my pastor, if I would accompany the ministers choir. (All of the pastors on our district are required to be part of the funeral service of a fellow pastor by singing in the ministers choir--how awesome!)
Honestly, my first reaction was two-fold: 1) I don't want to do this. 2) How do I get out of this?
My reaction was two-fold for at least two reasons: 1) The kids had today off school, and I was looking forward to spending the day home with them. I didn't want to shove them off on someone else, namely the only friend I could think of who would be able to watch them--who was supposed to be enjoying her own kids' day off school. 2) I had never driven to the town where the funeral was, and it was over an hour away, and that petrifies me--often to the point of a physical anxiety attack.
Lame excuses, I know. But, I figured there ought to be at least a few others who actually knew this pastor, who would love the opportunity to play piano for his funeral service...Right? Well, it turned out others were asked, and either no one wanted to play, or honestly no one else was available. That part doesn't really matter...What matters is that it became very clear that even though I didn't want to play, God seemed to really want me there. So, I resolved to change my attitude and I was honored to be part of the beautiful service celebrating and remembering this pastor's life.
The drive there was actually quite easy, and I thank God for reassuring me with my iphone GPS. (Seriously, it is amazing how much that helps my driving anxiety, and how many prayers of thanks I have offered for that tool!)
The service was wonderful. It was very powerful to worship with the pastors of our district and see them mourn their friend and celebrate this man's passing into heaven! How glorious! It really was a blessing to be part of it. I am always blessed when I choose to obey the Lord.
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This afternoon, I picked the kids up from Dawn. They were having so much fun, it took us about 2 hours to leave. We headed home and did some quick picking up. Then we loaded in the car to head to town. I dropped the girls off at Ashley's house for her birthday slumber party. Then Caeden and I headed over to pick up Samuel to come sleep over at our house.
Caeden has been wearing this hat for a couple weeks (minus the recent days when he's substituted the Mickey ears). He even sleeps with it on at night sometimes. I love that he likes it so much. I figured he was wearing it mostly because it is super soft, but when I asked him what made it his favorite hat, he said, "My Great Grandma made it for me!" I love that.
