Burn Out

This was a hard week for me. I'm pretty sure it could be termed "burn out." There was nothing out of the ordinary, and maybe that's part of it. 

Winter is not my favorite time of year. In fact, if it were up to me, we would skip January and February after Christmas and start the new year in March. I usually start counting down the days until spring in November! 

So, back to this week. The kids were bickering more than usual. There was a monstrous pile of laundry that never seemed to lessen no matter how many loads I washed. Dirty dishes in the sink....and the living room....upstairs. Trash cans were full. Globs of toothpaste in every bathroom sink, dirty mirrors, floors that needed mopping. And stuff. Everywhere I turned....legos, matchbox cars, crayons, library books, wooden blocks, stinky basketball shoes, candy wrappers, and 3 million Hello Kitty lip glosses....littering the house. 

And then there was homeschool. They didn't want to do school, and truth be known, neither did I. But we did, and it was a chore. My six-year-old would disappear at the mention of lesson time and my older kids were less than compliant. We'll just leave it at that. And then there is the 3-year-old in a full leg cast that is immobile and milking the situation beyond belief. Top all of that off with a husband who needed an emergency root canal and a 98 lb furry Goldendoodle who has barked incessantly inside the house all week and I. was. toast. Burnt toast. 

I leave note cards all over my house to help me with scripture memory. There is nothing better than clinging to God's word. I heard a quote a few weeks ago, not even sure who said it, but I wrote it down and taped it to the kitchen window above the sink. "The Lord walks among the pots and pans."  I got up Thursday morning to find that my dear hubby had added a few words to the bottom of my note card. Yep. The flood gates opened and the ugly cry made an appearance!! My hub knows that I thrive on words of affirmation. 

Isn't he the best? He really is. 

This week we got through the dreaded math, grammar, vocabulary, phonics and reading lessons. But I hope my kids learned more than that. I hope my kids saw that even when mom and dad are tired, frustrated and just plain burnt out...we still have joy. We love each other, serve each other, lift each other up and most importantly we cling to our Savior and His Word. 

 ^"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."  2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NLT)