Thank God It's Friday!

I can't remember the last time I so longed for Friday. I love the feeling of wrapping up my weekly chores. Bustling around the house to finish laundry. Checking the calendar for the coming week's events. Folding that last load of laundry till Monday (for the sake of my sanity and a break in the "scenery" we have a "no laundry on the weekends" policy!). Squeezing in a baking project. Planning meals for the the next few days ahead. Typically, these are all the things that make up my perfect Friday.

I think I may have mentioned in the last few posts that my weeks have been anything but typical as of late. In fact, it's been a rough and rocky road here lately. I hinted at it in my last post: beyond the broken arms, viruses and infections, there's been some other things going on here. Things that weigh a mom down. Things that make the day-to-day difficult to navigate. Things that make adjusting to a "new normal" even harder than it should be. Things that have long-term implications for our health and well-being as The Gang.

None of these other things are any different than what stuff other families deal with, but after much prayer and talking with The Boss, I've come to the realization that these things are all being dealt with wrongly. We've all been looking at these "things" and reacting to them. We've been weighed under by them, allowing them to press us to the mat. And when we've been pressed, frustration, anger and selfishness has been leaking out all over. We've been attacking each other. We've each been looking at what we need to do to make it through the day for our own needs. We've been tearing each other down. We've been feeling defeated and continuing to act out of that defeat.

After a rocky and frustrating start to our day, after I allowed my selfish expectations and angry feelings spill out all over my beloved family, I stood in my kitchen and felt sick to my stomach. Recognizing the feeling for what it was, I quickly repented to My Jesus and then to my hubby. The Boss and I made a plan to have a family meeting tonight, to share with The Gang our observations and our (re-newed) perspective of the activities around here. During this re-focus and our re-connection with The Gang tonight, we hope to re-establish who we are as a family. Who we are In Christ. And where we are going. Together. Re-draw the battle lines, if you will. It's time. Frankly, it's way past time and I'm sorry that it took me this long to see it.

So, I've got a pot of soup simmering in the crock pot. There's a loaf of bread rising in the bread maker and some peanut-butter cookie bars cooling on the counter. I picked up a fun family movie we've all been dying to see. And around our great big family dinner table, we're gonna have that talk. We're going to repent to each other and to the Lord and we're gonna start fresh.

Mmmm, maybe I'll frost those cookie bars. Can't have a deep, intimate conversation about intentionality, team building, and self-less loving without chocolate frosting on peanut butter bars. Now, can we?