This morning we realized that yesterday I left Claire's scooter on the bike rack at school overnight and unlocked. Adam immediately drove to the school and thankfully it was still there.
Claire needed allergy medicine and I couldn't find it and assumed that I would have to start searching through boxes. Adam walked in and helped me locate it in the medicine cabinet instantly.
Claire announced she was ready to go to school but then I noticed she was wearing the same uniform as yesterday, complete with yesterday's stains. After digging through 10 loads of laundry that are on our couch, we found the perfect uniform neatly hanging on her rack.
I overslept, but thankfully had planned for Claire to buy lunch today and I didn't have to make one. Also, the coffeemaker greeted me with fresh coffee.
Right now, our life is chaos. We still don't have new floors installed. We may or may not have asbestos on the floor, or it might be stains from old asbestos. We may or may not have to return all the flooring that is waiting to be installed and start over with a new contractor.
We have couches butted up against each other and all my cookbooks and many of my kitchen supplies are in boxes. The coat closet lives on one of the couches. Another couch is against the wall and has become a major laundry collector. It's all clean laundry, but there are no less than 10 loads waiting to be hung or folded.
Our kitchen table and dining room table are inches apart and we are unable to sit at one table like a family. We have to sit caddy-cornered in different spaces along the edges.
My kitchen cabinets don't have doors and the ones that do are unpainted. Painter's tape is a garland around the kitchen. One of the cabinets is coming out of the wall and will need to be replaced or reinstalled.
It's just chaos, but it's full of grace.
We have some neighbors with a meticulous lawn. They are both retired and spend hours each day maintaining their grass and flowers. Recently the wife showed me her compost bin and rainwater barrel and how they are working to be more environmentally-conscious. They have gorgeous flowers, but they have one that is my favorite.
This flower is growing in the street, right in the middle of the gutter. Of course they didn't plant it there and it's a small mystery how it sprouted there. But every day when I pass by this flower, I remember that love and beauty and grace will always come through the cracks in life. That even when the street is determined to be gray and drab, this flower has other plans. That no matter how overwhelmed I am at the moment or how absolutely insane the situation is, I am always surrounded by God's love. Just as soon as I decide that I am failing or that I will decide to be grouchy or depressed that day, one of my kids makes me laugh, or I get a sweet email or a kiss from a dog. Just as soon as I crack, a flower grows in the space.
No comments:
Post a Comment