Packed up and on the road!

By the time this entry is posted, we will be well on our way to our next adventure...camping at Mackinaw City, Michigan with a group of families from church. We have been planning this since May of this year and now here it is upon us. We have been busily making lists and being sure not to forget a thing. (I'll let you know what we forgot later!:) In the midst of the crazy pursuit of having the clean house to return to, the homemade snacks to munch, homemade soup to enjoy, bills paid, groceries purchased, laundry done and put away, clothes packed, educating our children and so much more, I think I lost my focus. It happens to the mommas from time to time, or so I have heard and possibly witnessed in my lifetime. Why is that?

I started to get worried about not getting it all done yesterday. I felt as if I could not breathe! Have you ever felt that way? That is when it hit me! Here I am sending the message that the way things look or how they are made or when it is finished is more important to me than showing my girls how to do these things with a joyful heart! A cheerful servant is what I desire to be. God says a cheerful heart brings joy! That is what I desire to be in this home. If that is true, then why do I flip out every time things get a bit hectic or do not go the way "I" planned them. Oh, boy! There it is! "I". You see, as long as I am focusing on what I want in the time frame I want it done with the finished product looking the way I want it to, well, I am going to fail and feel overwhelmed. It is never going to be peaceful before any big trip or due to a change in schedule.

However, if I will lay my desires at the foot of Jesus and ask Him to show me what He views as important each day than He will lead me in the tasks that He wants me to do. There will be peace and there will be joy. So today, I stopped checking off my list and just let it go. I did what God wanted me to do today. I spent time with my husband and girls. I talked to our parents. I did make some treats but not the ones I thought of first. I also had the blessing of having Doodle make brownies for me too. What joy! They will be better than anything I thought of before as well. We had fun packing the boxes and putting it all in the camper. Now, I sit here looking around and notice that my house will not be perfectly neat upon my arrival and you know what? "I" don't care. I really don't. Even if it were the way I like it, as soon as we unpack the camper it would be a disaster anyway. I'm glad to say that we are leaving with things the way that will give our girls a glimpse of a cheerful mom instead of that gargoyle that sometimes appears before we leave on big trips. I am so grateful God spoke to me before I ruined another moment fretting over the small stuff. He is so good in meeting us right where we are....I just didn't know He cared so much about my dust! :) hee hee!