Answered Prayer

Last night was another restless night and I was fairly certain these nights were all behind me. After all, the kids are all grown now, the body is older and more tired, I am not fearful and I need to sleep to be even reasonably pleasant.
(When I write comments like that I can hear my brother jumping into the conversation with a witty line, but unfortunately I can't hear what it is, because I'm too tired).

Proof of my exhaustion eluded me for the first few hours- probably that cup of coffee I gulped as I dashed out the door to be on time for my airport run. The exhaustion overload button hit full mode during church, of course, when I need to pay attention and hear what God is saying to me. My focus trick has been the same since high school when I took a course on How To Study.  I take notes.  I carefully listen and try to find the pastor's outline, important points and Bible verses I should be remembering. It works to keep me from nodding off, but it also makes me feel like a high school-er trying to stay awake.

Let me go back to my reason for wakefulness, on this particularly hot day in July.

It was the airport run.

The airport is 20 minutes north on I95, and a very easy trip. My usual method is to leave 30 minutes for traffic, but on this particular occasion I was not taking any chances, so I left an hour. I was told to be at Julie and Adam's house by 6:30 am, so I really needed to be ready for that 1 mile trip by 6:00 am. Then I needed to leave time for getting dressed, drinking coffee and of course, locking up. That right there could take several minutes.  See the problem developing in my brain? The math.

This problem decided to play itself out between when I went to bed @ 11:00 pm and before the crack of dawn , which cracked last night around 5:00 am.  Not only could I not get the math right, I also had never seen the tickets, which is only problematic to the non -flyer who is the mother of the bride and a control freak, who has a daughter who is a control freak and who is the bride.

Just relaying all of that has exhausted me again so much I can't even remember what I was trying to write about. Good grief.

I remember it had to do with Julie , being my baby girl, being the last of my 4 daughters to get married, being the daughter who has made me stop being a control freak,  needing to hear what God had to say to me more intensely, being the perfectly amazing mom of Ethan, being the one of my 7 children who I was sure would pack her bags and leave at age two, being the most outrageously non-conformist family member, securing that spot with this out of nowhere Bahamas wedding vacation. . . . . . . .

Now I remember.

I love that baby girl even when she is tired, mad at me, not speaking or sick.  [That was just last week].  Julie was named Julie Grace mainly because she was given to us from the hand of God exactly 9 months to the day after He chose to take my Daniel Mark back to heaven , after a short nine months here.

God's grace is given when we do not deserve it, when we are treating Him like the control freaks we are, telling Him by demanding in prayer exactly how He should run our lives. As if we know best, or the future, or what is wisest for our lives. We are ornery and grumpy ,sickly and healthy, complaining and disrespectful, and He still loves us.

Julie and Adam have been together almost 10 years now, and at first he was young and less than my ideal match up for her. I remember praying and asking God to give her someone who would be better for our family and for Julie. I insisted that surely she deserved someone older and wiser and not Adam.

God has extended His grace once again to Julie and me and our family.
God ignored my prayer request and did what He does best. He gave us what was best.

He has allowed Julie and Adam to have a son, Ethan , whom we all adore, and to weather some mighty big storms. They are also making this non-conformist decision to get married in the Bahamas on July 28, 2011 and I could not be more excited, more thankful, or more happy to see any two people get married.

I love Julie Grace, and most importantly I love Adam, my new son.

That makes seven sons, I have been blessed with.

I am not tired anymore, I am refreshed.

Four Daughters-Together at the beach

Four daughters so much alike

Hating the similarities

Laying claim to the differences

Mom observes.

Four daughters in conflict

Erupting like a pressure built volcano

After years of smoldering

Mom expects it.

Four daughters, each on their own journey

Sure footed on the path of life

Unaware of sinkholes, certain of destinations

Mom prays.

Four daughters

Adult women all

Birthing Babies, Reading Books, Drinking Wine

Mom rests in it.

This piece was written during our first ever - mom, daughters, children week in Ocean City, NJ.  I am the Mom.

T*I*R*E*D Scribbler

I have been resting up hard this last week, having returned from an exhausting week the one before at the beach, with 4 daughters, 8 grandkids, and enough snacks to feed the seagull population of Ocean City single handedly. 

You might think it was a grammatical error adding the snacks to a list which included people, but I am sure the snacks were alive. They multiplied. I had a large orange bowl and placed several snack type food items in it for 'beach days' consumption.

 

Each day we carried a bag filled with the usual shovels,pails, lotion and snacks down to the water. We placed our chairs and my massive umbrella in an organized manner at the exact level of where the high tide water line would be expected, then we sat and waited. 

We waited for hungry children, flying seagulls, annoying smokers, beach tag checkers, and high tide. We watched for drowning children, other people's small kids stealing our beach toys, debris, (one hates litter on a pristine south Jersey beach ) and high tide. We alternated running back and forth between house and beach, beach and water, kids and chairs, and trash can and blankets. We traded snacks, shared towels, complained about ugly swimwear passing, and wished we had energy to run, jog, swim with dolphins or play beach volleyball. We moved the chairs and massive umbrella from where the high tide line should have been to where it was, at least twice every day. 

We consumed snacks.They multiplied.

Results astounded me, as I packed to return home on Saturday morning. I had MORE food than when I left the Saturday earlier! How did I come home with graham crackers , for instance? I didn't take, eat or even see graham crackers, and there were 8 young eating everything, always hungry, beach grands in close proximity to the orange snack bowl at all times!

What about Oreos? Why didn't they multiply??

I am exhausted. Even as I write this Blog, I am too tired to go fix myself food for lunch.  I have some mean left-overs waiting inside that refrigerator door, I might mention.  Furthermore, yesterday I learned of a new taste treat from daughter Becca- spreading Nutella on a banana before you pop it into your mouth for a nutritious snack :-) . With a little energy I could go buy a banana( since I already have Nutella), but then I'd have to buy marshmallows and chocolate, in order to make s'mores with those leftover, who bought them? graham crackers.....

Do you see why I am so tired?

Believe it or not, just for a glimpse into my mind.....for those curious friends reading this Blog.... when I sat down to write this Blog, my subject matter was Working on Joy.  Interesting diversionary tactic employed. :-) 

Now I'm hungry and tired.