moments and meals

As I was awakened (before my alarm went off) this morning by my son crying from his bed, I got up to discover a soaked boy and a soaked bed. I whisked my boy out of his pjs and into dry clothes and added "clean L's sheets" to my mental list of things to do today. We crawled back into my bed for a few precious moments of snuggle time before my alarm actually did go off, and I treasured him for a bit as his face was aglow, playing some sort of kid games on my iphone.

I grab those moments and hold on tight, because in a few minutes, life, crazy life begins and there is little time to slow down. I touch his hair, I tap on his nose, I smile back at the little grin thrown my way, and I even enjoy the tapping of his feet on my legs as he is antsy to get up and get going. The alarm goes off and I hit snooze, hoping for a few more minutes, knowing that I must get up... so I do.

In the busy-ness of the day, God has found a little corner of peace and quiet to meet with me. After J is at school and L is busy playing around the house, I sit down with a simple breakfast and a delicious cup of coffee at my well-loved and well-worn kitchen table. I scroll through facebook on my phone until I come to Proverbs 31 Ministries. I spend some time letting other women of the Lord guide me and encourage me through the walks they have taken with our Father. As I finish my breakfast, I spend a bit of time asking God (sometimes pleading) for a bit of help to make it through the day. Then I fill that Strawberry Shortcake coffee mug up with creamer, add a bit of coffee and with my second cup of coffee, I'm ready to face the day head on!!


Today's gift of survival: Two dear sister-in-laws and a dear friend came over this morning and within 2 hours we had made four meals for each of us to take home (total of 16 meals!) These pans of deliciousness went directly into my freezer just waiting to make my life easier this week and next. We've been doing this for just about a month now and it has taken SO much stress out of my routine. When I get groceries, I shop for 1 meal (4 times the ingredients). When I write out my menu for the week, I look in my freezer and plan accordingly. I no longer think about dinner 30 minutes prior to when we plan on eating. I think about it in the morning and either throw it in the crock pot or pull a meal out to defrost. At dinner time, we follow the delicious smells wafting through the house back to the crock pot, or I turn on the oven, pop in the meal, and 30 minutes later: voila! dinner! (Today's meal-making menu, just to make your mouth water, included Teriyaki chicken, Salisbury Steak with a mushroom sauce over egg noodles, Rotini with chicken in a creamy Alfredo sauce, and Bowtie Pasta and chicken with Pesto sauce).

Additional benefits: Uplifting and encouraging conversation among Christian women while we make our meals. New recipes to try without having to put a lot of thought into it. Children eating things they haven't eaten before (I honestly have no idea why this is happening, except for maybe knowing that this was created by someone other than their mother makes it SOOO much better). Less temptation to go out to eat simply because I have a freezer full of yummy food! When I hear of a family in need of dinner brought to them, guess what? my freezer's got a bunch of great options. Leftovers for hubby to take to work and for me to have for lunch the next day. And four happy women who don't have to think about dinner 4 times this week. Amazing, simply amazing. Why did I not put this plan into action sooner?

After a busy, and satisfying day, I find myself again treasuring the moments like this evening as I hear the mumblings of my children reading their books upstairs before they fall asleep (soon to be interrupted by requests for a drink of water or music to fall asleep to or fear of the non-existent monsters under the bed...)