In ALL Things Give Thanks

So this morning was a rough morning. Tyler screamed for almost three hours non-stop after waking. Wouldn't eat breakfast and wasn't even interested in his gummy vitamin. You know when that happens his world has been turned upside down. I couldn't figure it out for a while until I realized the ol' mommy standby - when all other excuses fail, it's the teeth. So we loaded him up with Tylenol and some Orajel and prayed for the best. Poor Robert felt terrible leaving us in such a state. I was crying out of sheer helplessness, and Tyler was, of course, a mess. He offered to work from home, but I resisted. Two stressed out parents are never a good thing:)

God revealed something to me tonight while I was at Bible Study, and it was totally unrelated to the topic at hand. I am a "to-do list" person, and not a "relationship" person. I would much rather choose to clean my house or organize a cabinet than get down on the floor and play trains with my children. My heart broke at the reality that I'm just not a toddler-oriented person, but it's so true. I felt convicted immediately. This morning, like many other mornings, I was rushing my kids out of the house. We had an agenda. Drop off hairbows at a customer's house on our way to a playdate at 10. Ironically, Tyler's screaming fit ended at 10:00, right after I called to cancel our prior engagements. God was showing me that TYLER was my priority. Although at the time I thought I would have rather had a tooth pulled without anesthesia than to deal with the helplessness I felt, I now am praising God for the episode this morning. He has brought things into perspective for me. My prayer is that I will remember this morning EVERY time I bark at Audrey for not eating breakfast faster, or choke back words of frustration when Tyler has a poopy diaper right as we are walking out to the van.

So during this Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded to be thankful for every minute I have with them, because I will regret not spending that time when they're older. And the house (and our plans) can wait.