Thankful for the mess

    Life has been tough lately. My son developed whooping cough a couple months ago, which meant lots of weeks of constant throwing up because he was coughing so hard. James has had a lot of things going on with him that we're trying to figure out. But boy, he's such a cutie, and I love him. <3
     This week is supposed to be a week of Thanksgiving, and to look back at what you're grateful for. So, here's my post of thanks.
     Despite so so many hard days of Temper-Tantrums, messy house, dirty dishes, lots of laundry, snotty noses, baby spit up, and coughs, I'm thankful. You know, it's so hard to be grateful when you're in the moment of complete chaos. It's so hard to be grateful when you've barely gotten any sleep, you haven't taken a shower in a couple days, you've got a pile of tissues that need to be thrown away from snotty noses, and you don't remember when the last time was that you ate some food.
     But, looking back through the past couple weeks, months, and years, I am so truly thankful. I'm thankful for the mess my older son makes throughout the day, because it means that he's got an imagination, and that he kept himself occupied through part of the day. I'm thankful for baby hiccups, because it means that my baby has had enough to eat. I'm thankful for a messy kitchen, because that means that we have food to eat, and water to drink. I'm thankful for a dryer, because who knew something so small had such a significance in my life, and with all my dirty laundry, I'm thankful to have a working dryer again!
     I'm thankful for a husband who loves me despite my many sins and weakness, and my many days of lack of patience. I'm thankful for my two boys, because despite those hard days of their mommy having little patience with them, they love me, and trust me to take care of them.
    I'm so very thankful for those little phone calls and texts from friends and family, just checking in. I'm thankful for the ability to drive my husband to work once a week so that not only do I get extra time with my hubs in the car, but also so that my son and I can go to the Chiropractor on a weekly basis.
     I'm thankful for yummy meals that I've found on Pinterest, which makes diet restrictions so much easier to handle.
     I'm thankful for coffee!!!... something so small, but so delicious.
     So, that's only a small portion of what I'm thankful for, but it's good for me to get a different perspective every once in a while, and realize that I have so much to be thankful for!
What are you all thankful for? Comment below.

Patience Is A Virtue

     They say patience is a virtue, right? With being a full time momma, I try to remind myself of this quite often. For such a cute and precious baby, sometimes I run low on patience. This last week, it had been a long weekend full of fun activities, but needless to say, I was done. I was low on energy, and just ready to rest. Thankfully, James agreed with me and slept really well the night before so that I was able to get some rest. However, the next day, James wasn't wanting to fall asleep. He kept crying, and nothing I did would stop him. He doesn't normally do that anymore, but when he does, often times I get impatient. My husband is very good at taking him and trying his luck with James and putting him to sleep.
     I finally had to just put him in the Moses Basket that he sleeps in, tell him I loved him, and walked away for a bit. I'm usually in tears at this point because I feel like I'm doing something wrong because I can't calm my own baby down.
     After about 5 minutes, I walked back up to his room, and he was on the verge of falling asleep. I then put the pacifier in his mouth, and just like that, he was out, fast asleep.
     Last week, it had been night after night of very little sleep for both James and I. I was at the end of my rope. It was a Friday, and my husband woke up 30 minutes before his alarm, to get the baby for me, who was crying yet again. As he walked out of the room with our crying baby, I cried. It had been 4 long nights of very little sleep, and I was at the end of my rope. A few minutes later, I joined my husband downstairs on the couch. He said, "How was last night?" I couldn't speak at all. Tears began to roll down my face, and I was completely and utterly speechless. After a while, my husband said, "Would it help you if I took today off work?" And so, with a quick text to his boss to get the okay, he was off for the day. It was a chill morning after that. Josh decided to make my day better, so he went to grab us some donuts for breakfast from the local gas station, and then later on, we went to the theater to see a movie, out for a Starbucks coffee, and home for pizza and movie night. Thanks to my hubby, the day went from miserable to great! I'm very thankful to have a husband who knows my needs and knows what cheers me up the most. :-)
    I get mad at myself for getting so impatient with James sometimes. He doesn't realize he's being difficult, or that he just needs sleep. I started thinking about how I must be like that sometimes with God. God has a plan for me, and he knows what's in my best interest, but often times, I go my own way because I feel like it's the right way, or because I'm stubborn.
     Patience is one of the things that I can never be "great" at, or even "good" at. Often times, I feel like I've got it, and it's all good, and then BAM, God decides to humble me yet again. I Look at all the characters in the Bible, and see how patient they must've been in those times. Jacob waited a total of 14 years to receive Rachel as a wife! (Genesis 29) Abraham and Sarah waited for God to give them a child, Joseph was enslaved and taken to prison for a crime he didn't commit, and he waited there.
     I look at the patience that these men and women had in the Bible, and I feel like I lack so much in this area. I pray to God that He would grant me the patience that I need to be a good momma, and wife. God works in His ways, and gives us sanctification through trials He brings our way. In each moment, learn to be thankful, pray, and always seek Gods face... ALWAYS! <3