You Have No Idea

Wow, its been a long time since I last posted...Sorry about that but things kinda started spinning out of control for me. I just now feel like I've found the groove of things. The kids went back to school, at two different schools mind you, and I got a new job, and did I mention we're pastoring a new church plant, and I still occasionally remind myself that I am postpartum (that explains alot sometimes). Oh and for the past three months we've been hosting four more people in my home. The summer is gone and my four girls are sharing one room. Three of the four more people are under five years old. Now this is not a laundry list of complaints or anything, I just wanted to explain my circumstances in case you started judging me and all for not writing. So explanation given let's move on.

I realize that my life is not an ordinary one and I maintain a love/hate relationship with it. There are times I completely embrace all the weirdness we call "us" and then on the opposite pole I stand shaking my fist at the heavens and imploring at the top of my lungs, "Why ME?" Things can be going so well and then the bottom drops out at the least expected times, although I must say I'm beginning to notice the warning signs of the giving way. Then the crowning glory is when someone in their stupidity or ignorance or both tries to tell me how to do this thing better or easier or what have you. I am not beyond receiving good advice, but a qualifying factor for giving good advice is that the advice giver has "been there, done that." I really don't find that many people in my immediate surroundings who have walked my road. Pastor's wife, check, mother of six, negative. Working mom, check, wife of an insane maniac of a man, no way. No man is an island, but some women need one to escape to from the crazy treadmill of life. At times I even resent the routine that I'm forced to follow. Get up at 6 am, unload dishwasher, kiss husband, change dirty diaper, take shower and be certain that everyone else will be walking out the door looking good except for me this morning (because I don't have any time left to brush my hair), drive away from the house at precisely 7:05 am. I swear to you I feel like there is an ethereal glow around my truck every morning that we leave and everybody's wearing shoes and has their hair brushed. Its like a little miracle everyday when a family of 8 gets somewhere on time and looking half way decent. Can you give me a little slack when I don't make it to both services on Sunday, or my kids don't remember to be polite all the time, or my husband's collar isn't perfectly pressed? 

1-5 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. (Matthew 7:2, The Message)