Living the Dream

Occasionally, someone will ask me how I “do it all.” This question perplexes me because I don’t even remotely do it all. But I am absolutely living the dream.

Here is what the dream looks today:

4:30am- wake up, start thinking about random things I forgot to do yesterday, and try to go back to sleep

5:15am- get up and head to my office (read: desk in the corner of the laundry room, where cat food is scattered across the floor from where #3 was trying to eat it yesterday) I work on my running list of things to do in my writing life, which I chip away at it little by little during nap times, quiet mornings, and late nights.

6:45am- wake up #1 and #2 to get ready for school

7:40am- take #1 to school, wake up #3 and get her ready

8:30am- take #2 to school and get grocery pick up

10:00am- put #3 down for nap and decide to be ahead of the game and wrap #2’s birthday presents and then get a little more work done. What is this uncomfortable feeling? Ah, this is what ALONE feels like. Very unnerving and strange. The house is so….quiet.

11:30am- #3 and I eat lunch. We are about to settle down and play with some toys when a text from #2’s school says they are letting out early for weather.

12:30- get #2 from school. Forget the the birthday presents are still out and quickly try to hide them when we walk in the door (mom fail)

2:30- get #1 from school

3:00- give #1 and #2 a snack, which #3 finds a muddy puddle to play in

3:15- get #3 in the bath and #2 has a giant poop explosion in her panties

3:30- finish cleaning up the poop and while getting #3 out of the bath, drop phone in the full bathtub

3:35- throw phone in a bag of rice and track down baby crawling through the house with no clothes, put #2 in the bath

3:45- put #3 down for a late nap and get #2 out of the bath

4:00- put #1 and #2 in front of the TV for a show while I head to the kitchen to make dinner

While I am making the casserole that I will later have to bribe my kids to eat and eventually force feed them (because toddlers believe that all food is disgusting and was created to poison them), I can’t help but marvel at how blessed I am. No, I’m not being sarcastic.

4:15- I dump all the dirty dishes in the sink to get to later, because I want to remember something important. It’s back to my laundry room office to write (note to self: be careful not to step on the cat food).

While this is a pretty typical day in the fact that every day is a guaranteed unique adventure, this is what I always dreamed of having. These are the children that I hoped and prayed for. I get to spend time with these beautiful creatures and still get to think deep thoughts and create encouraging messages. I will look back on these years with a full heart knowing that I have a life that is so incredibly FULL of God’s goodness.

Yes, there are days when my eyes stray to others’ lives and start to wish and wonder. Wouldn’t I love a contract with a big publisher? What would it look like to have real influence for God’s kingdom? But then I think of what I would have to give up if any of those “dreams” were reality. No, I wouldn’t trade my time with my family in this season for anything. There will be other seasons for other dreams, but right now, THIS is the dream!

If you are wishing for different today, as the world always impresses on our hearts, take a moment to thank God for the blessings that you have in this season that can ONLY be had today.

4:40- I have to stop writing because my husband and I are going to a benefit dinner tonight. A REAL dinner with other ADULTS. We even hired a BABYSITTER! (for the first time in two years). And I look like a woman who has dealt with muddy puddles and poop explosions.

I pray that you are living the dream today, even if it is messy! Don't try to do it all, but love what you have been given to do.