I am so proud of myself today as we actually got in a full day of schooling without any drama. Of course I can't claim all the credit. One thing that has made all the difference in the world is prayer. The kids and I have been starting off our mornings in prayer. It is so precious to hear each of them say who they are offering up their day for when we say a Morning Offering together. An Our Father, taking turns saying Hail Mary's, a Glory Be, the Pledge of Allegiance, and off we go into our day.
What a nice change of pace to actually have a good, relatively peaceful, smooth running day. Most of our days lately have been marked by chaos, tantrums, and attitude. I could not figure out why my life was spiraling into total, overwhelming chaos. A new baby? Sure, a lovely, kissable, time consuming infant can throw even the most patient well organized mom into a sleep deprived fog. Homeschooling two kids, activities, commitments, and enjoying a precocious three year old can eat up every free minute of the day. I just felt like I was juggling so many balls and the kids were feeling it, Nothing was going right. What was I doing wrong?
Prayer, simple prayer. That is what our day was missing. Rather, I was trying to muddle through my day on my own. Without an anchor I was being tossed around. Every storm that came my way during the day adding together to create a category 5 hurricane by the end of the day. The difference, inviting God into my day, to lead my day, is incredible. Oh, there are still the storms, but I'm not tossed around. I can weather each storm as it comes and let is pass. There are the days when I forget to lead us all through prayer and I can feel the stresses of the day wash over me, wave after wave.
So being persistent in prayer is not one of my stronger points, but I keep on trying. I feel thankful I God has given me the gift of children. The little souls who have shown me just how much refining I need.