Stop It and Sit Down!

Finally a day came when the rain clouds were blown away and the cheery sun warmed the autumn soil. Off to the park we go!

It was quite the production to get everyone out the door. Baby was fed and adorned in cozy fleece outerwear. Daughter was dressed and told to wait while seated on the bottom step. Suddenly, one of our neighbors decided to stop by to welcome us to our new dwelling. During our chat, my son started to freak out on his play mat. After saying farewell to our neighbor, I rushed up the stairs to place my son in the baby carrier. The little girl was still waiting in the entrance of our home.

He screamed louder as I tried to stuff him into the carrier. My frustration rose. "Why can't this kid just CALM DOWN?" The closet door rattled below. "DON'T touch the closet!" I shouted down. My son's scream reached dangerous decibel levels while the closet continued to rattle. Why did I say we'd go to the park?!? "STOP IT AND SIT DOWN!" I yelled. I heard a small thud as a little bottom hit the floor.

"Mommy," a muffled voice echoed from below, "I'm in the closet!"

Giggles overtook my body. My son was still screaming. I replied, much more gently, "Well, wait there until I'm done."

Later that morning, my son, my daughter and I were laying on the grass in our backyard. The cool breeze was fragrant with the smells of grass clippings and fallen leaves. I sighed with joy as I enjoyed the sight of lazy clouds floating across a cerulean blue sky. The fluttering green leaves of our towering trees framed the calm scene. My rosy-cheeked son was having the time of life as he cooed at the view. My daughter nuzzled between her brother and I. For a moment, we were ALL content. For a moment I forgot all the things that I needed to do and just focused on God's beauty.  For a moment, I stopped worrying about it all and sat down to enjoy God's precious gifts in my life.

Hopefully you will have the chance to stop it and sit down today. :)

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46:10-11

Popular posts from this blog

Is God Good?

During "at home learning", I helped my daughter design an experiment on plants. She set up four identical pots with the same amount of soil in the same location on our deck (controlling her variables, right?). She planted two bean seeds in each pot. She watered three out of the four plants with various amounts of water (1/4 cup, 1/2 cup and 1 cup). The fourth plant only received whatever water naturally fell from the sky. At the end of one month, her hypothesis was partially verified. She thought the 1/4 cup water plant and 1/2 cup water plant would grow the best, which was true in the end. On the other hand, she guessed the others would not germinate at all. Interestingly enough, while the one that was drench in water (1 cup) did not germinate, the one she did not water at all actually grew! It germinated late but had the most steady growth. Is God good? I have been thinking about this question a lot these days. A global pandemic is still raging over our planet decimat...
Read more

Daunting {But Not Impossible}

I rarely watch the news. I catch up on the world's happenings -- where often the horror is reported -- via Google News. Or the brief blurb before classic rock on our favourite radio station. But very occasionally, at the end of the day, I take in the images of national and global headlines. Yesterday I watched the masses trek across Europe, searching for a safe haven away from war-torn Syria. I witnessed little kids crying as they tried to rub away tear gas sprayed by unrelenting border police. The message? You are not welcome in this country. I choked up as a father and his son fell to the ground after being tripped up by guards. The look of desperation on people's faces was heart breaking. Our country is nearing a Federal Election in October. Many voters are curious how the next Prime Minister will address the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Here is an excerpt from The Globe and Mail : Mr. Mulcair [NDP] and Mr. Trudeau [Liberal] condemn Mr. Harper [Conservative] for lacking...
Read more

Banking in the Now

This month we are trying something different: banking in the now instead of the tomorrow. Oh, it is nothing new, really. I used to operate like this in my single days. But then the lure of credit cards with reward programs persuaded me otherwise. While I never gave Visa the joy in collecting any interest payments from our bank accounts and I always payed our credit card bill before the 21 days of grace were up, I probably spent more than I should have some months. Why? Because I didn't have to pay for it immediately . It was not until last year that my credit card habits started to bother my conscience. Up to that point, I felt proud of the fact that the credit card company was paying me to use their plastic. I received stuff for free, even after paying my annual fee. Free fuel. Free flights. Free hotels. Free is good, right? My perspective started to change after I read a blog post penned by my sister. Her and her husband cut up their credit cards after a series of events, o...
Read more