“If you are irritated by every rub,
how will you be polished?”
How did you spend your day?
Me?
Well, let’s just say, I’m pretty sure I’m the only momma out there that had to chase a incredibly-fast, hyper-charged teenage rooster through a rolling field of soy beans.
In my rubber boots.
In a skirt.
Yes, rooster feathers a’flying, our newly adopted Man-chicken managed to sneak out between Lyla’s legs one morning, just as we were going to leave for an appointment in town. What else we were supposed to do but chase him down?
{And that is when, yes, I realize we do not need phys-ed for our home school. You try chasing a rooster through knee-high fields of beans … }
{Introducing Samson, a French Faverolle – he was a present to us last week. We think he’ll make super pretty babies.}
Now, I must shamefully admit, I did not react well when my daughters came screaming up to the house, just as we were about to leave for the day, and informed me the rooster had escaped and they couldn’t catch him and “Mommmeeeee, you have to come help us!!!!!!!!!!!”
In fact, I was very impatient.
Probably even rude about it.
Angry, perhaps?
It had been a long week … I was tired … *really* tired – that tiredness that hits you like a brick wall when you’ve been getting up at night with the baby for five months …my husband had been working late all week which meant single-parenting it for a week straight, homeschooling seemed hard, toddlers were being naughty and it was just a tough slew of days … on this day, we had just spent the morning trying to get the house cleaned, the chore list was long, there were rooms to clean, laundry to put away, floors to mop, vehicles to clean, and no one seemed to be doing their assigned tasks at all …. and now a rooster to catch!! – and we were already 15 minutes late in leaving the house!
After we somehow managed to catch said rooster who was streaking through the fields in a blur of feathers (mostly done by my eight year old, as she is the quickest catcher-of-animals so far), I shook off the collected soybeans that were clinging to my skirt, pushed the loose bobby pins back into my nest of hair and promptly gave myself a lecture.
That was enough. Life is life. It’s gonna happen.
Things will upset the cart, children will need reminding to do chores, toddlers *will* have tantrums when tired, husband will have to work late – deal with it, girl.
And if you have 30 something chickens, one of them is bound to escape now and then. In this situation where the girls didn’t mean to let the rooster escape, I could have – and I knew I should have – handled the situation much more gracefully.
It was time for my own attitude to change.
Later, I received an email from a friend … it surprised me when she said she actually {sort of} envied my stage of life …
{Lacey’s new fancy hen – a Gold Laced Wynadotte}
Really?!?!
With my crazy, hectic daily routine? Diapers? Math grading? No down time? No bubble baths … no me-time … drinking cold coffee because I forget where I put my cup and barely getting a shower … constantly cleaning and making meals, trying to figure out a lunch menu for five hungry girls? And even breathlessly chasing lost chickens in random fields?
{Lucia’s new chicken- we do not know what breed this chicken is! Does anyone else have any suggestions or ideas? }
But her comment struck me. I knew it was time to look at my long week differently. I had six beautiful children to raise and show love – they are children – just like adults, they make mistakes and need fresh starts every now and then. Lord, help me stop complaining! I have a baby … a beautiful precious baby that needs me and loves me and yes, I know some women whose hearts ache to hold a baby … I have a home to clean, thank you Lord! Laundry? Alive, healthy children. Dirt tracked into the house by curious, happy children who love to be outdoors …! A husband working … thank you God for his job!
Time to start counting blessings and showing grace and mercy when my children made mistakes. Mistakes, just like their momma. Time to stop complaining.
They say if you complain about the little things, what will you do when the big things come along in life?
Strangely enough, from that moment on, my week seemed … happier … my mood changed … my spirits lifted … I thanked God for the day, the tasks, the life set out before me – and yet, the children were still the same children, still forgetting to put their booots on the boot mat, needing prodding to get chores done before school in the morning and yes, my husband was still working late … but my perspective had changed.
After all, if I’m irritated by every rub, how will I ever be polished?
by Gigi
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