God's Good Timing

I got a lot of "hang in there" as well as a few people who I think were laughing at me after my last post.  (Yeah, my kids are hilarious if you're NOT ME!)

God apparently heard my cries, too, as He tends to do.  :)  We went to visit my bro's family this weekend because they just added to it!  Welcome, baby Harrison, cutie patootie!  Anyway, we visited my parents' church and it just happened to be a sermon about ... you guessed it ... parenting.  I think the title was "How to Love Your Kids Even When You Don't Like Them" or something like that.  Ha!  As soon as I saw the title, I knew this message was for me. 

It was a straightforward sermon, but one that I so badly needed to hear.  When I was teaching in the trenches of Chicago, there was not a single day that I did not pray on my way to school.  I knew then that I could not survive the day without having talked to God that morning.  Throughout my day, I would murmur a quick, "God, show me what to do," or even, "A little help, please?" numerous times. 

Why, why, why did I think that I could do this parenting thing without talking to God about it?  I need more patience, wisdom, love, creativity, and patience (did I say that twice?) than I have ever needed in the classroom.  (Yes.  I think being Spike and Thor's momma is harder than teaching the under privileged on the south side.)

At the end of the sermon, Pastor Kyle asked any parents who wanted prayer to stand where they were.  I was out of my seat before the invitation was complete.  And then Sunday night, Zach and I prayed together for the boys and for us as their parents.  And this morning, Zach and I independently prayed for the day. 

God is faithful.  My boys are funny and cute and smart and friendly and, most importantly, they are a gift from Him.  Today I can recognize those facts.