Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pickles For Breakfast

"O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave;
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning."
Psalm 30:3-5

Today has been a busy day...always so much to do, but today just seemed like there was far more than usual.  I am sure I am not the only one who has those days!  About ten o'clock this morning, I realized I had not eaten breakfast yet.  As I stared into the refrigerator I spied the jar of pickles that is sitting in the back.  With a thankful heart, I realized that my days of a few pickles or a haphazard peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the go are done.

It is amazing how something as simple as a jar of pickles will bring back a flood of memories, unpleasant memories.  For seven years I was a working single mother.  I hated most every second of it as my children did not have the best in life.  To me, the best would have been Mom to stay at home with them and nurture them in a loving, peaceful environment.  Instead what they had was a hurried, rush-rush day to day existence. 

I would wake up generally about five o'clock in the morning and get things ready for myself and the boys.  They had a nice breakfast waiting for them when they awoke, but very seldom would I have the time to sit there and eat with them.  Into the power suit, on with the make-up, up with the hair...backpacks, lunches, into the car...Vroom...!!!  Away we went to our places of solitude for eight to ten hours depending on what project I had to work on at my job.

Then there was the rush home to get dinner ready, do homework, baths, put the boys to bed so they would get a good nights sleep...clean, do laundry, finish whatever project from work that needed to be done.  If I God had mercy on me or provided help from an outside source, I could be blessed to be asleep by midnight. 

Seldom did I ever go out for, "Me time."  My kids meant more to me than flippant friends who did not really care anyway.  I wanted to be there if they had a bad dream or woke up for a drink of water in the night.  I wanted to be the one to read the bedtime story instead of a baby-sitter.  The last year of working outside the home was the hardest for me.  I missed my kids more than you can possibly know!  I could never get home fast enough and just cuddle.  I was so thankful for some terrible snow days where it would have been very dangerous to drive into work and I was able just to spend those days enjoying my boys.

Now, I still cannot get enough of them!  We are currently reading about the Solar System, decluttering the house and waiting for the autobiographies of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett to come in the mail!  We are working on a shopping list for more art supplies and science lab supplies.  We enjoy Bible reading together, talking about God's Creation and love when my husband comes home from work to converse about our day.  God is so good to all of us!  Thanks be to God who has ended the days of pickles for breakfast!

"Light is sown for the righteous,
         And gladness for the upright in heart.
 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous,
         And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name."
Psalm 97:11-12

1 comment:

Nancy said...

So happy for you.