An Actual Moment

I am right now sitting in my office at church with a quiet moment. The kids are nestled away in their sunday school classes having fun with the Christmas story - no one is crying, no one is having a potty emergency and I really shouldn't be telling you any of this because it will totally ginx it.

My kids are either with grandparents or their father - their church hour is over and the two youngest ones are probably eating lunch and laying down for their naps at home. I am in my office listening to my Sara Groves CD....so I might actually have some rational thoughts floating inside my head....might.

My friend RK was commenting on her blog a few days ago about how her daughter has kind of flip-flopped personalities on her lately - most likely due to a yucky nose and feeling kinda icky. Go check out the story here.

Her post came on a day that I was totally comtemplating one of the dynamics of raising kids - the constant transition. At times the transition goes really smoothly, not even noticeable really, one day you're alerted to the fact that your 7 year old almost comes to your shoulder in height (I'm kinda short people - so don't go imagining him as 6 ft. tall or anything) and he is totally able to read almost all the print that is bombarding his eyesight as we travel across town.

Other times - not so easy. All of a sudden the nice little routine that you had settled into is not good enough. Brothers that used to get along constantly bicker. Little ladies that were safe in their Bumbo seat now can wriggle their way out and fall headlong. (Yes that happened and we have the greenish bruise on the noggin to prove it) So then you have to back the train up, figure out where the kink is and sit there like your playing "Going on a Bear Hunt" and say, "Can't go over it, can't go under it, can't go around it - guess we'll have to go through it." But trust me the bear hunt game is a lot more fun.

I have figured out recently that Isaiah has climbed to a new developmental level. He can no longer be entertained playing alongside his 4 1/2 year old brother. Huston never "plays right" or he drives Isaiah nuts with "his constant questions!" That day of Isaiah alone time really, really helped me to see that. Huston and Avery play awesome together right now. They actually play house - which I thought was a "girl" game, but my bias has been corrected cause these rowdy boys can care for their stuffed animal "baby" just fine thank you....for hours sometimes. I finally told Isaiah that he either needs to get down to their level and have fun or go do some quiet stuff on his own more often....and I as mom need to protect his quiet time.

Lillie right now is constantly throwing me for a loop. She can reach farther, wriggle closer, cruise along side and stick in her mouth at lightning-fast speeds. *Sigh* The dynamics of family is a living, changing thing, and most of the time it is quite exciting to watch - just at times hard to identify.

Spiritally speaking, I've figured out that things operate in a similar fashion. Sometimes I think that if I am getting frustrated with where I'm at or feel as though I am spinning my wheels, it's because the same ol' routine isn't cutting it anymore. I need to go deeper, I need to take His lead and move on. Again kind of interesting - and hard to identify.

So I finally had a somewhat insightful moment concerning some stuff....it always comes just at the right time - just when I'm about to throw in the towel and beat my head against the wall. :o) Now I pray that I can follow through with a new routine of handling stuff and not be tempted to fall back on the more familiar one.