Confession 70: The Mystery of the Every-Other-Day Shower Revealed

I love hot showers. Don't worry, this isn't going to get icky. I just love hot showers. Hot showers to me in the morning are what a strong cup of fresh-brewed coffee is to other people. Enveloped in steam, my brain begins to un-fog from sleep. I contemplate the day ahead, rejuvenate, think through lessons and conversations, contemplate theology, pray. I don't know what it is, but I do some of my best and most creative thinking in the shower. It must be all of the positive ions floating around. Regardless, for almost twenty years, I have greeted each new day with a hot shower. It has always puzzled me how other people can get up in the morning and go without a hot shower. And then I realized, THEY HAVE CHILDREN!!!

When you have two toddlers running around the house, you don't even get to pee in privacy, let alone take a contemplative shower. I've found that children come with some sort of built-in Mommy radar that alerts them whenever you get out of bed. I can't tell you how many times I've turned the shower on to warm up, only to have to turn it off again thirty seconds later because someone is calling, "Mama! Mama! Mahhhhmahhh!" Hot showers have become a true luxury for me, for even when I manage to get into the shower and wash, it is interspersed with yells into the bathroom of: "Garrett, get out of the dog's crate!", "Stephen, put that down!", "Get your brother out of the toilet!", "Bring those towels back, dog!" Then there's the trick of shaving your legs with one hand while holding the shower door closed with the other to prevent your 1 and1/2 year old from letting the puppy in and saying hello. My water refuge has become anything but.

So where does that leave me? Like so many other parents of toddlers, the coffee maker has become my new best friend. I stick to decaf, mostly, but am absolutely addicted to CoffeeMate. While it doesn't surround me with positive ions, my morning cup of coffee steams my face, allows me to breathe deeply of pleasing aromas, and clears my head of the previous night's sleep. All in all, not a completely bad trade-off. And, I still have my hair straightener. Thank God for the Chi and Bath and Body body mist!! Yet the most wonderful part of giving up my morning shower ritual--3o extra minutes of sleep!!

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 69: The Hunting Season Has Begun

Our family celebrated the hunting season this year in two very different ways. Chris and his father took some guns out into a cow pasture and shot at a deer. The deer survived, which should make PETA happy, but I was secretly hoping for a freezer full of deer meat for the winter. It was the first time Chris and his dad had the opportunity to hunt in 15 years. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate so they only had the one shot. But, it's the experience that counts, right?

In the meantime, they boys, Chris' mom and I went to Joplin to do some hunting of our own. We hit a Target and came away with some good stuff, but it wasn't quite a bullseye. So, we tried our luck at Toys R' Us and came away with the kill. With one shot we got Christmas outfits and dress shoes for the boys and a new stroller for Stephen. All in all, it was a very successful trip. We feasted afterward on soup, salad and breadsticks at the Olive Garden--the quintessential meal for all dedicated hunters!!

One of the beautiful aspects of this holiday shopping season for me is that I'm not really doing any of it. Our family decided this year that instead of investing in stuff, we were going to invest in time. We've rented a condo in Branson for a few days around New Year's Eve in lieu of buying Christmas gifts for one another. My parents, my sister and her husband, Chris' parents and his brother will all be gathering for the occasion. I'm really excited. I think it will be a nice getaway in the midst of what always becomes a crazy season.

Don't get me wrong, I love gifts, both giving and getting. But, they need to be given for the right reasons, not because retailers need to make a profit. Chris was reading a new book by pastor Mike Slaughter in which Slaughter states, "Christmas is about Jesus' birthday. It's not about yours." We've lost that as a culture somewhere along the line. And I would like for my children to grow up with a different perspective. I would like to grow into a different perspective. So forget gifts this year. Instead, celebrate life. That's what it's all about anyway. So happy hunting in your quest for Christmas meaning.

As always,
Blessings and Peace,
Sara
Sara

Confession 68: Just Another Day...

I stepped in dog poop with my bare foot this morning. It was gross. Really gross. But the plus was that I figured it couldn't get much worse than that throughout the day. And, other skidding into work two minutes before the first tardy bell, it really hasn't been that bad. Stephen woke up around five something this morning. We were sleeping in the recliner, which was fine because I've had a cough for a week now that I can't get rid of. He played for awhile, crawling on and off the recliner, then when Chris came out to tell me my alarm was going off Stephen decided it was time to sleep. So, he grabbed his blanket, climbed up onto the recliner, laid down, and fell back to sleep. Classic Stephen.

I was thinking as I was pulling into the parking lot at school this morning, "This is my life. This--rushing Garrett out the door in the morning with a cup of coffee in one hand and a can of soup in the other, flying into school in the nick of time, scrambling to wrap my head around what I need to teach through three subjects, flying out of school with who knows what, rushing Garrett back into the car, and heading toward home where there's snack, dinner, bath, jammies, and bed. This is my life." And you know what? I love it. I love it!! This is what it's supposed to be about. There's no big thing to do, no greatness to be achieved (thank you Beth Moore). There's just me taking God's hand and walking through the day.

That's not to say that there's no purpose in life. There's tremendous purpose in life. There's a kingdom to be built, and all that we do should be focused on building it. But we build it everyday, in our everyday encounters, our everyday conversations, our everyday actions and routines. We build it when we say hello with a smile to people we greet in the morning. We build it when we give an encouraging hug or word to someone who might need it. We build it when we pray with our children before meals. We build it when we give someone else the right of way. We build it when we say "thank you" and mean it. We build it when we say, "I understand what you're going through". We build it when we laugh with others. We build it when we cry with others. We build it when we say, even in the midst of a foot covered in dog poop, "Thank you God, so much, for this day."

This is just another day, and I couldn't ask for more.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 67: Appreciation

At the beginning of this school year, all of the teachers in our district were given a copy of the book, How Full Is Your Bucket?. The purpose of this was to foster a community of positive encouragement and appreciation. We, as a faculty, are continuously called to build up our colleagues and our students by offering praise and recognition for work well done. I've realized recently that I have gotten behind in the area of bucket filling, in one area probably more than others. After the busy-ness of the day, I often fail to truly appreciate my husband. And there is a lot to appreciate.

Chris is a wonderful husband. He takes care of so much around the house and I hardly ever stop to even say, "thank you." Chris eats lunch at home most days to save money, let the dogs out, and clean up the kitchen. He also does most of the cooking, laundry and takes out the trash. On top of that, it is his responsibility to get Stephen (prior to this year both Garrett and Stephen) ready in the morning and out the door to the sitters, picking him back up on his way home from work. A full day's work, I might add. Then he gets me, his lovely wife, sauntering in the door after school, scattering all of her stuff throughout the house as she makes a path to the bedroom to change, asking "What do you want for dinner"? by way of a "Hi, it's nice to see you. How was your day?"

After making dinner, Chris will often clean up as well while I go play with the boys and get them dressed for bed. Chris then gets the job of putting at least one of the boys to sleep, since Stephen will not go to sleep for me and Garrett is 50-50. Then, once the boys are in bed, he waters the animals, takes the dogs out, makes sure they're fed, and goes to bed with only half of the covers because I take them all.

And that's just a normal day! There are times when Chris does even more than that. For instance, a few weeks ago I fell asleep on the couch while making cookies for a snack day at work. Instead of waking me up, Chris finished baking the cookies, took them out of the oven, put them into a container, and brought me my medicine with a glass of water. This past week, when I wasn't feeling well, Chris sent me to bed at 7:30, cleaned up dinner, took care of the animals , and put both the boys to bed on his own. He also got up in the middle of the night with Stephen and took him to sleep in the spare room so I could get some rest.

I have a truly wonderful husband. Why he continues to put up with me I have no idea. But I'm very grateful that he does. I know Chris isn't perfect, no one is. But he gives 110% of himself always. He deserves a little recognition now and then. So, thank you Chris. I love you!!

Blessings and Peace,
Sara