Yesterday it happened again. We got up from naps, the children were hot and sticky, I was hot and sticky and needing to accomplish more than the time would allow (I thought). I attempted to send them out to play. Every time I turned around someone wanted something. My patience grew thin, then thinner.
“Why can’t you just go and play? Mommy’s busy.”
I hate to say that- I’m afraid it sounds like my work is more important to me than they are. But sometimes it is, and sometimes they need to accept that keeping this family running smoothly means that they need to stay out of the way and play nicely with each other. They do too- last week they played outside for hours while I reorganized and threw away stuff.
Then I looked at the clock and I remembered that in late afternoon we come to the hour of None, the Ninth Hour, the hour of Endurance.
“And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthan?” that is to say, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
Indeed. This is the hour to remember all that went before and to hang on. Soon comes the evening and soon it will be cooler, and tempers will mend, and the children will relax in baths or coloring at the table. S will come home and we can eat and put the children to bed and then sit on the porch in the dark and cool of the night and talk….all will be well.
But for now this hour, we must endure with patience, until we pass through the heat and humidity, and the low-blood sugar of late afternoon. So I prayed for grace and made coffee milkshakes. And we sat around for twenty minutes and drank them, and talked. Then they did go play, and I did clean up the kitchen and start supper. We endured together and the heat passed, and my mother came over for supper, and there was grace to live in love with each other.
Coffee Milkshake: (for when you need a cold pick-me-up, or a special treat)
Serves:2-4
- Fix a cup of coffee just as you would if it were hot.
- Pour it into the blender and half fill the blender with ice.
- Pulse the blender until the ice is crushed.
- Pour into glasses and serve with spoons and straws.
Basic rule: if you want it to be thicker use more ice in proportion to liquid.
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