just a really bad day.

yesterday, was just what felt like a REALLY bad day. it wasn't intentionally bad, infact, it started out pretty good, but little by little it got worse and worse. my children were DRIVING me crazy...crying, whining, instigating and disobedient ...the little girl i was babysitting made it worse when she said, "i don't want this spagetti, it doesn't taste like my mom's." now...what a compliment if you are HER mom, but what NOT one for me. :) my dear friend ang came down to take pictures of my not-so-impressed 3 year old and 18 month old, in the FREEZING cold...hopefully we got something...

so...FINALLY in the quiet before bed, after most were tucked in and sleeping, and ONE was still snuggled beside me wide awake, i pulled out the book i have been reading...called Captivating...by John & Stasi Eldredge...
this is what i got to read before bed:

...our dear friend Carol has a bright mind and a keen intellect. the sky is the limit for Carol. and she just gave up what looked like a golden career move to stay at home full time with her newborn son. there is nothing on earth Carol would rather do-yet it was an incredibly difficult decision to make. there is so much that she wants to do, to learn, to experience. she has given up so much of her own life in order to bring life to her little boy. learning to mother her child is requiring more of her heart and soul than she thought possible. God called Carol to the high position of mothering, and she is choosing to die a thousand small deaths to her self every single day while at the same time falling ever more in love with her son.

Carol chose to say "yes" to God and followed his lead into the hidden life of a stay-at-home mom. God is meeting her there. In the hiddenness, she is discovering the holy. And she is playing the most irreplaceable, essential, powerful, life-impacting role imaginable...

this book is AWESOME. it is hardly about mothering at all, but more about God captivating your heart as a woman...what that means...and what that looks like. there are a million stanza's i could also share, but i won't ...go get the book out at the library. :) this was what God had intended for me to read at the end of a bad day as a mom. i have high hopes for today...smiles. and enjoy your weekend. looking for some warmer temps next week...until then i will try to hang out in my cozy basement, and clean some other day. :)