Unexpected Answers to Prayer in Sickness…not just in health:
For two to three weeks I was dealing with sick children. Both my oldest daughter and my son were sick and in the midst of caring for them, I noticed that my energy levels were really low. At first I chalked it off to breastfeeding my youngest and beeing a busy mama but then I noticed it was getting worse and worse. Couldn’t figure out why I was so fatigued… till I got hit with the flu. My symptoms got especially bad that monday night. I didn’t sleep and Sophia was waking up nonstop. I prayed so hard that night that the Lord would take my illness away or that even Sophia would sleep…none of that happened. But here’s what did happen:
I got up super loopy out of bed and was greeted with a cup of coffee from my husband before he went into work. I legit almost cried. It was a treasure in that moment.
My kids played together very calmly for like an hour before I could get myself off the couch.
We did our full advent reading and activity. It was amazing and refreshing to my soul, y’all this year’s advent study has been really good for slowing down this season and anchoring my heart in Christ (more on that below).
My kids knew mommy was sick so they legit made me tea, made an assortment of snacks and checked my forehead for “fever”… it was the best it could get while being hit with the flu. I got to see my kids compassionate hearts in all of this, something I didn’t realize I really needed to witness for myself.
Once we had breakfast, I noticed that I had a little bit of energy so I did the basics and realized that we needed to go to the grocery store. My kids were in the best mood so I decided lets do it now. We never…ever…all together go to Trader Joes. it’s not one of those easy to maneuver with multiple children grocery store. But my kids listened to all the rules and were happy with their little shopping cart. They pushed it together and didn’t argue once about it. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I got to nap in the rocking chair with my baby while the older two watched their afternoon show. That was really good because I didn’t sleep the night before.
Got kids to bed after dinner and did the bare minimum of cleaning up afterwards and I praised God that we survived the day.
All of that revealed to me that God didn’t just leave me to myself. He did hear my prayers in the middle of the night and while he didn’t answer my prayers in the way I wanted him to…he did answer in the ways he knew I needed. Afterall, he know our weaknesses and uncertainty is one of my biggest ones. Waking up and not knowing how to make the day happen was my weakness Tuesday morning and yet his Grace was there from the moment my feet stepped out on the floor. I truly didn’t do it in my strength, knowledge or wisdom. It was from Him. Sickness with little children can really reveal how little our efforts are and how much the Lord hold us. It truly reveals how much we depend on him without even realizing it.
Monday night was still hard but I managed to a lot of rest. I was in bed very early in the night. I was running a high fever but it broke in the middle of the night and Sophia managed to sleep more than the night before. I was on the mend.
What I’m Making Time for during this Christmas Season:
Enjoying the lights: My husband does an amazing job putting up lights. I am making it intentional to spend time outside of our house making the porch look nice and sitting with tea or coffee and looking at the lights he worked hard to do.
Enjoying our Fire Pit: The kids and my husband went on a project to find a fire pit and they came back with a really nice one. It was such a treat getting the logs, the starter logs, the tin can and setting up the scenery. I got to stack wood with my son and it has legit been a true joy.
Going to Holiday themed grocery stores: Almost all stores have holiday foods and things in them but some stores make it their theme. They go all out. Fresh market looks like a magical place. My children literally stare in wonder each time we go there. Fresh Market also sells hot coffee there for less than two dollars. So yes I will drive 30 minutes to get there. Same thing with Trader Joes.
Mystery Reads and Downtown Abbey-esq books: There’s a certain genre of books that we all have a thing for during the holiday season. This really is something that isn’t forced. It’s supposed to come naturally. Mine seems to be mystery reads during this holiday season. I am currently almost done with one about an art theft and just started another one set in the Edwardian age. Reading it outside in the backyard, with the kids running around, a rake on the ground, my baby crawling, a hot coffee or tea in my hand, and beautiful spiney winter trees is a real treat this season.
Making time for Family without grumbling: Y’all the holiday season is beautiful and chaotic. But it’s also a season for seeing lots of family and getting to see people that we haven’t seen in SO long. IT IS A TRUE FAMILY TIME. But here’s the thing, with adding children into the mix, it can get tiring driving places and attending many events. With my grandparents getting older, and me getting more sentimental… I decided this year I will not grumble. If I get stretched too thin, we will just leave early. If my kids are too tired, we will kindly decline that extra event but other than that…I wanted to embrace our family and distant relatives this season. That did mean that I said no to some events with friends. Not because I didn’t want to attend but I did prioritize our family. We do LOTS with friends during the year, so I decided to just allow more room for family this season. It is a BLESSING to have multiple generation around our kids and around us to glean from. Family is a big blessing and not everyone has it… we do. So…Thank you Lord!
Things I’m loving
This whole food peppermint mocha coffee ground: Something I really want to get rid of from our diet is any ingredient that says “natural flavor”. News flash…it’s not natural! It took a bit of hunting but I managed to find a coffee brand on amazon that uses peppermint leaves and cacao shells to flavor their coffee. And it’s organic! Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/Tuturu-Cinnamon-Coffee-Flavored-Compostable/dp/B0B4KPR3L2/ref=sr_1_6?sr=8-6
Amazon.com Our Fire Pit and These gingerbread cookies: Y’all we love us some smores! But I don’t love the artificial ingredients and the sugar that comes with it. But I was determined. I made homemade gingerbread cookies and y’all they tasted so good. My husband thought they tasted exactly like the ones from the store. We also got 70% dark chocolate to make our smores.
Becky Aniol Charlotte Mason Based Advent Study: This has been perfect! Honestly perfect! It has the readings, the hymnals and poems/handicrafts. It has been good for me and for the kids. Since my children are very young, we tend to split a day into 2-3 days.
Baby Overalls: Yes I have had three kids, no I did not just discover overalls but I did just start really using them. I didn’t for a while, my mom used to tell me to use them but I didn’t listen. Then I realized this time around that they are perfect for crawling babies. Especially if you want your baby outside. Sophia get super dirty in them but they are a one piece and they’re typically super covered. I don’t have to worry about bugs biting her in the grass. I also don’t have to worry about socks with the cold weather.
Simple Mills Organic Cake: My adorable son’s birthday was on December 8th. We did a small get together for him and he requested we make a cake. I really had to think about it. If it was any other time of the year, I wouldn’t stress too much about it but with all of the annoying junk food they get from all the events during this season…I wanted my boy’s cake to be whole food based. But here’s the thing…I didn’t wanna make it from scratch. I was super beat from being sick and he really wanted to make his birthday cake with me. So… when I was doing my order from Whole Foods, I realized that simple mills muffin mix is also meant to be used for a cake, and they had an amazing coconut oil based icing from Miss Jones. Y’all the icing and the mix had the best ingredients I’ve ever seen on boxed cake/icing. The best part was that all the parents and kids loved and couldn’t tell it was a health food cake.
