Running on Grace

Since Holy Week, the Boyette household has been running non-stop.  Every few days I've had a brief chance (an hour or so) to catch my breath, wash dishes, and carry on.  It is neither desirable or healthy to live life on the go, but sometimes life requires it of us.
When I was studying to become a teacher, one of my professors made me memorize the four stages of teaching.  I wish I had committed it to long-term memory because all I can remember is the first stage: survival mode, and the last stage: proficiency.
You could say that today I am living in survival mode, but I prefer to think that I'm running on grace.  I've been saying prayers of gratitude all morning that things are going better than they could be.

Here's a few examples of moments of grace that I've been aware of today:

1. I woke up late; at 6 a.m.  I usually get up at 5, so when I realized the time, I panicked, but our automatic coffeemaker greeted me with a fresh cup of coffee, already brewed.

2. The kids and Adam were able to get themselves out of bed mostly on time today by themselves.  Usually I have to stop what I'm doing multiple times each morning to get them all awake.  I only did that once today.

3. Last night was museum night, so both kids stayed up past their bedtimes, but neither one was grouchy and falling apart this morning.  Paul delighted in watching our hamster and announcing he was also a hamster.

4.  After we dropped Claire off at school, I was able to wash the dishes from last night.  That made me feel better.

5.  While I was washing dishes, Adam called to warn me of two policeman patrolling the area around Claire's school.  Since life has been frantic lately,  I am currently driving with an expired inspection sticker, so I was so grateful for the warning and took a different route.

6.  I didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning, but was able to have a healthy granola bar in the car.  On days like that, we often stop for donuts, but today Paul and I made healthy choices.

7.  It was barely sprinkling when Claire went to school, but as Paul and I started getting in the car, the rain came, just in time to remind me the umbrellas were in the house.  I was able to go back in and get them and avoid wet heads and grouchiness later.

8.  We were running a little late to church, but Paul prefers that I walk him to class, so I was parking the car to do that.  Then he decided he wanted to go through the carpool line, which eliminates me having to leave the car and saves me five minutes at least.

9.  I was able to arrive at school exactly on time and due to planning, already had my lesson prepared to go. I was able to immediately get to work and start a productive day.

I am so grateful for days like this when you see all the things that could have gone wrong, but none of them did.  It's a good day.  Tomorrow will be calmer and we'll all be able to catch our breath.