THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Thomas Paine (The Crisis from December 1776)
No, I’m not going to get political here. I’ve just been following Antbed Anne on her road trip through the East Coast and many of the sites of the Revolutionary War and when I was thinking about this on-going heat wave those were the words that came to mind!
This time last week we were without power and it was REALLY hot in the house as well as outside. Today the AC units are struggling to keep up but they are making it cooler and (more importantly) less humid in the house which makes things much more manageable.
Still I can tell that tempers are short (my own included) effected both by the heat and the air quality. There is more whining, more quarreling and more Mama-having-run-out-of patience than usual. I check the weather several times a day, hoping for rain to bring these temperatures down and every day the numbers remain in the triple digits.
I am reminded this morning that “This is the day the Lord has made, 100 degrees and all. This moment orchestrated and planned by Him. Who am I to find it sorely lacking? To give up on gratitude and grace because it is just too darn hot? Maybe, by turning up the heat, He is giving me an opportunity to grow in the areas I need to focus on. By thrusting me into the fire of these days, a chance to be refined.”
We do have a great deal to be thankful for:
two weeks of traveling, doctor’s appointments and other events (there were two days in which we didn’t have somewhere to go) completed with W’s check-up on Friday
a normal week ahead of us- school, visit to a friend’s house, Wednesday Night Supper, time to just be..
Baby J has learned to put his feet on the floor and push himself off of his blanket onto the floor- the children are convinced he will be crawling soon!
The possibility of meeting up with a blogging friend!
W deciding that going potty is cool (I reward him with chocolate chips) and that he wants J to be the only one in diapers.
F and Su playing in the alley and having an encounter with a bouncy dog. The dog jumped all over Su and F didn’t panic but instead pushed the dog down off of her and brought her back to me. This was a real accomplishment as he is not at all comfortable with dogs and usually wants to be protected from them himself, but in a crisis he reacted well. There were some tears once he was back in the house, more in reaction than anything else. Poor Su was shaking and crying but very impressed by brother’s actions.
Finding two blueberry bushes on the clearance rack at Lowes. Yes, I know planting fruit “trees” at a rental house is slightly crazy, but two blueberry bushed for $10 was a deal I couldn’t pass up!”
I’m with you, Kyndra. I do believe all circumstances He allows offer us opportunities to grow in our ability to reflect Him more clearly. I also find that pressure reveals my true character (or lack thereof), so His allowing me to deal with difficulties is actually a revelation of His Love. He knows what He intends for us to become and lovingly moves us in that direction. We’re getting closer!! 🙂
I almost missed the link-up for this week I’ve been so busy looking at your pictures. Closer and closer…K