Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Choosing To Laugh


Today’s busy.  It doesn’t help that I fell asleep on the floor with Josiah last night and didn’t wake up until I heard Caleb crying to be fed at 2 a.m.  I recently started a womens’ study of the book “Nurture” by Lisa Bevere at my house Wed. mornings.  We also have a church small group at our house the first Wed. evening of every month. 
 
And today is Wednesday, the first of the month.   I love serving others by hosting, teaching and inviting people to my house.  But it requires extra work.  I won’t lie.  It’s joyful, enjoyable work, but it’s still work.
 
So I was running around this morning getting the house together, leaping over the piles of dirt Samuel was sweeping up (thanks sweetie!).  Changing diapers.  Making the beloved morning chocolate milk.  Washing dishes.  You get the picture. 
 
And I was making breakfast for the ladies and their little ones.  Whole wheat banana chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, and coffee. 
 
Then Josiah comes running into the kitchen with a much used phrase of his.  “I want to help!  I want . . . make huevo (egg)!”  I tried to explain that he couldn’t help today.  That his friends were coming to play.  He wasn’t getting it.
 
Then he says “Mommy, I have an idea!”  Be still my heart, my son has a new super adorable phrase.  So I ask him what his idea is.  I’m sure you can guess from the picture what his idea was.  “I can break an egg!”
 
So I agree.  He really is good at cracking eggs just right.  But today he was off.  The first egg I gave him didn’t want to crack.  He had to hit it several times before it finally gave way.  Then when I opened it above the bowl a piece of shell fell in.  I began to get annoyed and think this is exactly why I didn’t want him to help!  It was time for people to begin arriving and here I was fishing shell out of my bowl of raw eggs. 
 
Well as I was doing that Josiah grabbed another egg.  That one broke with the first hit.  And ended up all over the floor.  I turned and saw his sad face.  He really did want to help.  He wasn’t trying to make a mess. 
 
I laughed and grabbed the phone to take a picture.  As soon as he saw my smile he relaxed.  He knew it would be ok.  I could have let my prior frustration grow.  I could have snapped at him.  Instead I remembered how blessed I am to have such a precious boy. 
 
And I chose to laugh. 
 
What can you laugh about today?

 
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
 

Proverbs 31:25

8 comments:

  1. Hey Christy, Ethan has had that "Adorable Phrase" "I have an Idea" and he would put his finger up in the air and it was soo cute. Thanks for hosting this morning... :)

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  2. I love, love, love that you laughed. Way to go, mama. Love you.

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  3. Great Post...it is so true that Life is a choice! What we make of the time with our family is our choice...I'm glad you laughed! Thanks for the reminder!

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  4. Love all your posts. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. laughter works. :) and you're right on: our reaction is our choice. one of Joshy's favorite books has a page that says "over goes your coffee cup, but you just laugh and pick it up." it's a nice feeling of relief for the both of us. things are only as big a deal as we make them. beautiful post, mama.

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  6. I want to thank you for this post. I have had to stop a couple times since I read it and say, "She really just wants to HELP you".

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  7. So glad you could laugh! What a difference that makes in the heart of a child . . .

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  8. You made me smile!
    I'm following from the hop... you can visit me at Random Utterances
    See you soon!

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