Joy Eclipsed

Sometimes joy is eclipsed by pain.

You know those days?
Baby up howling in pain you can't fix.
Toddler throwing defiant tantrums.
Husband and wife short with one another.
Sleeplessness.
Busyness.

I've had a week or two of these things.

Hard eucharisteo.

That baby in pain?  How blessed I am to have him screaming in my arms.
That defiant toddler (or two)?  They're shrieking in frustration means their breathing.
That husband?  He loves me: despite my sin.
That sleeplessness: It's probably temporary.
That busyness: March's calendar looks blissfully empty.

And in the middle of those string of days: a perfect day.
2000 yards swam in a pool.
an hour or so serving Aunt Ruthie at the church.
Chalk in the back yard.
Good long coinciding naps.
An uneventful trip to the library (which is a big deal in this house).
Dinner spent as secret shoppers at the delicious family style Cade's Dinner House.
The evening spent laughing and relating to other moms in my MOPs group

I couldn't ask for more.  I'm blessed beyond measure... even if I never stop to measure it.

Measuring out 3014-3038 gifts He keeps giving.

• Fun in a pot full of lentils
• Perfect sliver of shade across Sedryn's face
• weather warm enough to romp outside
• 4 day with no pee accidents
• Tara coming over to watch my girls for Sedryn's 4 month appointment
• How much fun the kiddos had romping in the yard
• Precious 1 on 1 time with the boy
• him eating it up
• Perfect Thursday
• Helping Ruthie take down tables
• Laughing at the vacuum scared girls
• Loooong nap for 3 exhausted littles
• Some 1 on 1 time with Aeralind drawing and chatting while B slept long
• A library success
• Yummy food at Cades
• Best pot roast ever
• Fish hating Bronwyn pulling catfish off the family style plate every time we turned around
• Derek taking all three home while I went to MOPs mom's night out
• Talking with Jessica, Joni, and Mandy
• Laughter
• Fun morning at Becky's
• Having Sedryn freak out before I went to bed this time
• Isolating the cause of the insane pain scream: eggs
• Derek and girls leaving me and Sedryn to snuggle
• Strength given for each day despite being on the brink of exhaustion