Mondays are usually my no-shower-and-look-like-a-scrub day, filled with lots of laundry and cleaning. So in between loads and naps today {you have to time these things quite carefully!}, I decided to take the kids down to Shoreline Park Reserve so that I could get in some exercise {since I'm already a mess}, and to let them enjoy the great outdoors as well.
There's a small boat that they've brought ashore and turned into a playground, with a moat of sand all around it. We stopped there to have a picnic lunch and play. Seth jumped out of the stroller and darted onto the boat. After a few minutes, he yells,
"I'm going to Nineveh!" {The town where God asked Jonah the prophet to go.}
"Oh, really, Seth?"
"Yes. I'm going to tell the people to stop doing bad things and Jesus will forgive them."
Oh, it was a delightful morning!
I had a sort of epiphany yesterday. Well, really, it's been dawning on me over the last few weeks, but yesterday it really became clear.
All I need is more Jesus.
When I get so frustrated, impatient and at the end of my rope with the kids, I think "Oh if I could only get some alone time! That would solve my frustrations with them." I've tried it. I'm gone an hour and I miss them. All I really need is more Jesus.
When I am so exhausted from cleaning and cooking and planning and re-cleaning what I already cleaned 5 minutes ago and not sleeping through the night yet again, I think, "Oh if only I could just get one entire day alone in bed, sleeping leisurely as I please ... then I would feel better." No. All I need is more Jesus.
When I think I need new bath towels to match the new paint in the bathroom, or when I think I need new bed sheets, or a new dining room table. I realized that all I really need is more Jesus.
When I miss my husband so much during the day while he's at work, I think, "We need to get away, just the two of us! That would be fantastic!" Yes, it would be great, but really, I just need more Jesus.
You see, Jesus gives me His patience when I have none. He, supernaturally, gives me physical strength when I'm tired beyond belief. He opens my eyes to see how much I do have and fills my heart with gratitude. Jesus is my all-in-all, the satisfier of my heart and soul, not my husband (who I love dearly, and dearly loves me).
There is none other, no not one. The ultimate sacrificial lamb.
