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| A proud Mummy moment last year when JJ openly prayed for someone else at their Baptism |
Oh my word, I am absolutely exhausted. Not because I have physically done too much or got up too early but because the kids are wearing me out. I forgot how full-on it can be being with three kids full-time.
I find myself repeating a dozen times a day 'It's too much' or 'be quiet' as all three of them seem to want to talk to me at once. Some days I can handle it and others I just want to run away and hide. I know parents across the country can relate, it is summer holiday fever and as much as I have been looking forward to this, there are always days when it just feels as if you will fall over the edge.
It's my own fault today, I attempted to work for three hours this morning whilst the kids were at a kids group and I hadn't quite finished by the time they were out so that last 5 minutes of work felt like it took an eternity.
Then this afternoon it was one mess after another, I literally walked to the next room after tidying the last to find they had ram shackled that one. Yes I got them to help me tidy but it is exhausting to continually keep badgering them to help. Thank goodness I got a couple of hours alone with dh tonight to chat and relax with a cheeky glass of red.
However, in amongst the chaos today I have been reflecting on how amazing it is to be part of my children's lives, to be shaping and nurturing them. Yesterday I attended a seminar on spirit-filled marriage and it was wonderful. Really challenging and inspiring; you know a good seminar when you come away buzzing with ideas and concepts to discuss and take forward.
One of the things that was discussed was parenting and the focus was on being a Christian parent so the speakers were very upfront about their desire for their children to be saved rather than anything else. They quite candidly said they would not swap addresses to ensure their kids get in a 'good' school and nor would they forfeit church on a Sunday for their children to do sports, not even if they were on track to be a premier league footballer, because at the end of the day what would we prefer as Christian parents - them to be the best footballer in the UK or for them to have an intimate relationship with the Lord? I'm firmly in the camp that the deepest desire of my heart is for my kids to know and follow Jesus.
With this in mind I can deal with the chaos of this week and the hyper children I'm living with. Hyper because we have a massive Christian festival on-site were we live and we are surrounded by around 1500 Christians and the kids have group every morning and evening. Each day has something new and exciting to offer them and their feet have barely touched the ground. They all seriously need to chill, as they are stressing me out but really how can I be too upset when they are doing such amazing things this week? My girls have come home and told me they both made a commitment to follow Jesus, then the next day they worked with some friends to paint other kids faces and raised £30 to help an orphanage in Nepal and then JJ told me nonchalantly that he has been praying for people to be healed and 'don't panic Mum, I've done it before'.
These are the things that excite me and make me proud. It is pretty big stuff when Miss E tells me that tonight they went to the adults marquee and gave out their prophetic art pictures they had drawn that morning and she told a lady that Jesus loves her. I love the boldness that is being developed in my kids when they attend event likes this. Anything that can ignite their spark for Jesus is great as far as I'm concerned.
So yes, they are all bouncing off the walls but instead of me trying to calm them down and constrain them maybe I just need to follow their example and find my spark for Jesus again and bounce off some walls too!
Watch out tomorrow, it is going to be wild..........
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