Lipreading Mom

(Lipreading Mom’s Note: I wrote this story when my oldest son was 4 and my daughter was a baby. Neither one of them is in diapers anymore. My, how time flies…)

Maybe it was the sun shining just a little too brightly in my eyes while I tried to sleep in. Or perhaps it was my bouncing, giggling, portable alarm clock known as my son, who came in just a little too early to wake me up. Either way, I woke up with an uneasy feeling that it was going to be one of “those” days. The kind where my head feels like it is raining and I’d rather sleep the entire day.

Over a breakfast of cold pancakes, I got to hear my son’s list of concerns about his food, clothes, even his socks. At lunch, the phone rang and sure enough, it was my mother ready to chit-chat for forty minutes even though I was already ten minutes late taking my son to preschool. When I got home, my daughter decided to have one of her amazing “blow out” diapers. While I was changing her, the tape on her fresh diaper accidentally ripped off while it was being fastened.

And it all started because it was just one of “those” days.

Thank goodness for quiet time! As my daughter lay peacefully in her crib and her brother spent a busy afternoon learning at school, I had a few moments to sit with my Bible and think. What came to mind was God’s reassurance even on the days when the air doesn’t feel quite right and I’m all cranky inside. God’s reassurance is a reward filled with peaceful, loving thoughts and second chances to start the day right. God’s reassurance is a reward I don’t even have to earn with good behavior.

Right then and there I decided to rewind the day and start over with a prayer … “Dear God, thank you for the sunshine that warms me. Thank you for my two healthy children and their zest for life. Thank you for the meals you graciously provide and for my mother to share adult conversation with. Thank you for giving me one of  ‘those’ days because every day is a blessing from you, whatever it holds.”

I shut my Bible, stretched my arms and looked out the window. The sun was still shining bright.

Then I got up and decided to enjoy the day.