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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

When the adrenaline runs out...

We have been running at breakneck speed, dragging our kids behind us.  Late nights.  Early mornings.  Long days.  Lots of tears.  We're ready to rest, but it doesn't look like an extended stay at a spa is anywhere in this girl's future.

I can feel it.  Feel the adrenaline wearing off.  See my unpacking pace slowing to a mere crawl.  Watch my kiddos having breakdowns.  We've pushed them and ourselves to our limit, but what an incredible ride!

We've moved into a new house.  More space inside.  More space outside.  Which is creating a bit more sanity in our lives (okay, maybe even more sanity when the boxes are all gone).  Despite issue after issue with this new house, we know that God is sovereign, that He has a purpose in placing us in this home.  Therefore, we will be thankful.

Teacher Man is back to school, having had zero summer break.  During the month of June, he packed box after box.  Throughout July, he worked tirelessly at turning our construction site of a house into a safe home for our family.  And in August, he went back to school.  If you are one of the warriors who battle alongside him for the minds of our city's children, be nice to Teacher Man.  It's been a hard, incredibly fast summer.

The kids and I are trying to figure out a new routine.  After much deliberation, Caleb started preschool the week after we moved.  He loves it, but he is also a morning person.  The 8 o'clock starting time is the bane of my existence right now. I hate alarm clocks.


Ben has figured out that Caleb's preschool mornings are his "no one steals my toys" mornings.  He is a different boy!  Non-stop talking.  Funny stories.  Great memories made.  Loving my mornings with my little boy and my little girl.

Laura.  Oh my.  Well, Laura has decided to create her own version of crawling/dragging herself across the floor.  She is incredibly mobile, and in this last week of her life she has mastered da-da, ba-ba, and ma-ma.  Yesterday she even decided to start clapping for herself, and there IS so much to clap about.

I look around every room of our new home with the old mindset of "I'll take care of that on Kitchen Day or Cleaning Day."  One problem though.  Life is so different now that Office Day and Laundry Day aren't always happening in their orderly fashion.  They just aren't.  I'm too busy playing The Very Hungry Caterpillar Game or feeding a baby or reading The House at Pooh Corner because I'm burned out on tasks.

The adrenaline is gone.  Coffee is no longer enjoyable.  It's foundational to functioning.  And the boxes no longer annoy me enough to motivate me.  In fact, if you figure out a way to decorate with corrugated cardboard boxes, our friendship might just get a little deeper.  Having a routine would be great, and I'm sure we'll get there.  For the moment though, just SEEING the people that I live with is so much more important than attacking the next to-do list.

So for those of you who wondered what had happened to us, we're here.  Well... we're in a new here, still seeking to be gracious and show Christ's love to a world in need; but oh so tired. Despite exhaustion, we are reveling in the grace shown to us by the Body of Christ.  And we have about 453 thank-you dinners to host in order to begin to show our gratitude to those who have sacrificially served our family over these summer weeks.  If you've swung a sledge hammer, carried a box, watched our babies, or brought us a meal; consider this your first "thank you" of many.  We are grateful.  Where our adrenaline has run out, grace has filled in the gaps.