« October 2008 | Main | December 2008 »

November 11, 2008

I Love My Husband...and Jesus

Peter took a long weekend and spent his days off beginning Natalie's "big girl room." We were going to just put paintable wallpaper over the horsehair plaster walls, and this weekend was going to be spent doing that and blowing insulation in from the outside of the house. But then the forecast was rainy, and we got to thinking more about our plans. Peter decided we should switch gears and totally strip the room and start from scratch and really do the room well. He would rip out the old plaster and lathe walls, get down to the studs, then redo electrical, insulate, sheetrock and paint (my job). We decided now was the time to do it right rather than waiting until teenage Natalie hangs up a poster and the ancient walls cave in.

Initially I was disappointed that the weather was putting off our plans. I have difficulty with delayed gratification when it comes to projects. BUT, when Peter shared his thoughts I realized that God was using the weather to slow us down and get us thinking about what would really be best for the room and for Natalie. He always wants to give us the BEST not just the good. And as Peter got into the walls he learned a lot that he wouldn't have discovered had we simply covered them over.

All that is just to lead up to saying how much I love my honey. He dives into projects like these with such energy. Projects that are a bit out of his comfort zone because he loves the three women in his life. He spent his days off getting totally gross and inhaling plaster dust when he could have been sitting on his duff with the internet or a movie. Actually, he told me tonight that he really enjoyed letting his brain go and engaging in the physical labor, although his body has been loudly protesting this switch from its usual sedentary cubicle existence. And he's feeling pretty proud as a guy who isn't a natural handyman that he did this all by himself. :)

As happy as I was to be getting this done, the past two days have been hard too. A big part of me wants to be getting down and dirty by his side. But my job at times like these is childcare. I love my girls, but it makes for long days, because even when he's done, I feel like I want to give him downtime. And the past couple of nights, Charlotte has really fought her bedtime. It ends up being 8:30 or beyond before I have some time for me or us, which makes it easy to go down the self-pity road. As I paced and bounced with her tonight I was a bit teary and uttering some pretty pathetic little poor-me complaining prayers about how disconnected I feel from friends, or how little time I get with my hubby, or how will I ever be ready for Christmas, Lord? with a 4 1/2 month-old still insisting on sustenance every 2 hours! (By the way, life has been really good lately, but it's just in these moments that all the little stressors glob together and get blown out of proportion. At least that's what my brain can tend to do even when I've been feeling awesome all day long.).

And then I thought about how He never gets downtime from caring for me and the millions of other people on the planet. And I heard in my heart, "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is perfected in your weakness." I began saying this out loud as I put Charlotte's paci back in for the gajillionth time. Then I tried to switch gears from "wah, wah, me me me" to "Who could I pray for while I'm holding her paci in, Lord? How can I use this time for you? How can the tedious become holy?" This helped a little, but there was definitely still grumbling in my spirit.

She finally fell asleep and I plodded downstairs. Peter took one look at me and offered me the laptop to have all to myself for the rest of the night. Ahhhh....thank you Lord! What a guy! I fully expected him to be on all night catching up and relaxing, which would have been fine. But what a pleasant surprise and just the emotional pick-me-up I needed. Thank you, Lord, for the little ways you care for me, and how you answer even my poor-me, complainy prayers. :)

At this moment, he is actually in bed before me, having thoroughly tired himself out these past two days. I really should be doing the same, but my head swims with the possibilities in this time all to myself! So now that I've blogged, next stop is Facebook and Gmail and googling a few things I've just been curious about and meaning to forever.

So this has been a long one, but just wanted to share how much I love Peter...and Jesus. :)

Posted by Shannon at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2008

Comforting Her Sister

Charlotte started to fuss while I was holding her. Natalie was sitting next to us, and reached out to comfort her sister and hold her hand. Fortunately, the camera was within reach.

Posted by Peter at 09:50 PM | Comments (3)

November 08, 2008

Weird...

I found Natalie's beans this way when I was cleaning up after breakfast. It seems she has a fondness for threes.
As Peter said upon seeing this configuration, "She's either crazy or very smart." The two often go together I suppose.

Posted by Shannon at 11:09 AM | Comments (4)