Thankful for the Craziness

I am very thankful to be this side of my last week.  It was busy, and brought many good things, but kicked the stuffing out of me.  Jubilee end up getting a stomach virus on Wednesday which put her out of commission for the rest of the week.  There were lots of events and she didn't get to participate in some of them, which was a crushing disappointment to her.  The upside is that she really wanted to be in her class play.  She was anxious about missing things at school.  She was motivated to get better so that she could get back into her normal life.  That is huge for a young lady that has only lived here for nine months, and is adjusting to a new school in a foreign country.  She struggled the most with missing the school ball on Friday, but she made it through, and Lord willing will be at the next one.

So far she is the only one that got sick, which is a lovely novelty for our family.  We had her school play, and a ball on Friday.  I rode my bike on the trail with some ladies from church.  The big girls had a "home" cross country meet on Saturday.  Yesterday was supposed to be my Sabbath rest, which turned out a little bit different than I had anticipated.

BK did very well in her meet Saturday.  She is continuing to run her 3K in 9:30-9:40.  She got a t-shirt for coming in first place.  It was a hot day, and I got a major sunburn on my neck and chest.  Mads came in 6th in the 10th grade girls race.  She ran it in 25:something, which was just great.  It was a hilly course, and they had to wait a long time for their run.  It has been a treat to spend my Saturdays with the girls, their friends, and many of the other parents.  We have our little band runners that we follow around the region and cheer on.  I drive the Jr. High team which is always entertaining.  They are a very lively group, which makes for some creative crowd control strategies.  They are all good guys, and I love seeing them at school and on the course.

Rick managed to make a lovely meal Saturday night.  Sometimes I wonder why he isn't the one home with the kids all day.  He manages much better than I do on occasion.  Sunday afternoon I took a couple of the kids out for a hike.  We got into a conversation about some things that had happened at school that they were feeling crummy about.  I was glad that they told me before I got a note from the principal.  It gave me the opportunity to tell them how I thought they should handle it.  It also gave me the opportunity to talk to the other Moms that were involved.  I got to share with them what I expect from my kids, and to ask them to keep me informed if they know my kids aren't meeting those expectations.  I admit, the kids got an ear full and they will probably think twice before telling me something like that when we are out the woods together.  I think it all worked for good, I guess I will find out when I pick them up today.

Two things that have been hit home to me this week, are that I need to be humble before my kids, and that I need to have open communication with the people around my kids.  I need to be able to say that I am in the wrong, and ask for forgiveness quickly.  I need to be quick to listen and not take offense.  I need to assume that I need to be corrected, and not the other person.  Most of the time there is more to the story than will ever be sorted out, and in the end God is the only one who will judge rightly.  If I have offended my brother, I need to ask his forgiveness even when I think I didn't do anything wrong.  My kids need to know that I make mistakes, and that I do my best to fix them.  It has been such a blessing to be in a small school in a small town.  My kids don't get away with much.  They have eight people watching them at school that eat dinner with them every night.  If Soso missed something at school, someone else's brother probably saw it.  Word gets back to Mom fast.  Those same eyes follow them to most of their meets, games, movies, malls, whatever activity they are involved in.  Having other parents that aren't afraid to call you up and ask what is going on with whatever child it may be, is also very helpful.  I reminded my kids that they are developing a reputation.  I can ask them about any child at school and get a pretty good picture in about five minutes, but it goes both ways.  What are other kids telling their parents about us?  What do they want those parents to say?  I am thankful for all of the crazy tangles we manage to get into.  They are wonderful opportunities for us to extend grace to others.  They remind me that I am not perfect, and neither is anybody else.  We are a group of redeemed sinners living in a messy world.  I am blessed to be in a place where we can raise a toast to the craziness and hope for a glorious future.