Have you ever spent a summer evening sitting on a back porch or taking a walk and mosquitos keep biting you? You swat them away and a few minutes later one bites you again. It happens over and over and you don’t realize how bad it has gotten until you go inside and see yourself in the light, covered in bumps and splotches.

That’s how I would describe today. Nothing terrible happened, but rather it was an accumulation of annoying, frustrating, and somewhat sad events that I didn’t realize was taking its toll until I took a step back and surveyed my day.

Then I went to MOPS this evening and our theme was Celebrating Lavishly, and to be honest, I didn’t feel like celebrating anything. We watched a video and at one point the narrator said something along the lines of I know how my story ends and it gives me reason to celebrate lavishly. 

She’s right, you know. I do know how my story ends. I know that my good days and my bad days are working together to form me in the image of Christ. I know the annoyances and frustrations, (and the way that I respond to them,) create character. And I know that no matter my journey, my destination is already secure… And that, my friends, is reason enough to celebrate lavishly!

MOPS nights are always a little rough on my savages. I barely see them on these days, as I run from work straight to our meeting. When I finally pick them up they are exhausted beyond reason and tonight was no exception. When I got to Rebecca’s we had to wake C up just to get her in the car. We live literally 90 seconds away and on the way home Big E had a meltdown that I wouldn’t stop the car to give him potato chips.

Once I settled that, C piped up asking me to give her a sticker. When I told her that I didn’t have any stickers she started to scream at me that I did have stickers and she wanted one. I tried to explain that I wasn’t holding out on her, I really didn’t have any stickers at all. She was convinced I was lying to her and freaked out the rest of the way home. (Thankfully that was the total of about 30 seconds!)

When we got home, they ate chips and then I successfully got all three of them into bed in less than five minutes, which might very well be a record! With the house quiet, I might just sneak in a little bit of reading before sleep claims me as well.