An Uphill Battle

You are probably familiar with the Greek myth which tells the tale of the neverending misery of Sisyphus. Although he lives a debauched life full of cunning tricks, affairs, and even murder, the thing that gets him in the most trouble is the way he manipulates the gods. He plays the role of informer, telling on none other than Zeus. He confounds Hades, messing up the natural order of things by making death impossible for mortals. That situation is remedied, but it is many years before Sisyphus receives his penalty from the angry gods. He must push a massive boulder up a mountain, bearing its weight, straining against its immensity, driving the great rock up and up, until it slips from his grasp (wily in its escape just as he himself had been so many times) and barrels and crashes back down the mountainside, unforgiving and mocking in its cruel trip tracing the path that Sisyphus has just carved out as he had labored up the steep incline. Sisyphus has one task. He must follow the stone, set himself behind it once more, and begin the trek up again. And again. And again. And again forever.

This task of futility can seem all too familiar, can it not?

My rock must certainly be the laundry pile. While I cannot wholly relate to Sisyphus, for I am not nearly as clever or cunning as he was, I can relate to the idea of thinking that I finally have something just about under control, when I don't actually have it under control at all, and never will.

Now, certainly I am being a bit dramatic here. And there's good reason for that. Have you seen my laundry pile?! Truth be told, it's more than just the laundry. It's all of life put together. 

The writer of Ecclesiastes speaks of it as well. He cries out that all is meaningless and then says,

    What do people gain from all their labors
      at which they toil under the sun?

    All things are wearisome,
      more than one can say.

(Ch. 1, Vs. 3, 8)

Where is the hope in such utter futility? 

Ahhh. The hope lies in the future. For the writer of Ecclesiastes (we assume this was Solomon, the son of David), the future held the promise of a Messiah. For us, the future holds the promise of that very Messiah's return and reign forever. 

I think it's as simple as that. Paul says in Colossians,"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." All of those wearisome tasks, the seemingly endless and meaningless jobs that we have...all of it is for his glory. This is a reminder for myself, that I have many tasks, but I have one blessed duty. I love God the Father, and I want to seek out this business of doing everything in Jesus' name, always giving thanks. 

So, thanking God for all this laundry, all this mess? Well...yes. In the mess is the living. The living towards a future that is full of hope and promise. It might sometimes seem vague and impractical, but is there anything more practical, actually? Continually cleaning, sudsing, rinsing, washing away all the dirt and muck...always remembering that these things will pass, and soon there will be a day when all is clean. New. Renewed.

And now I'm off to switch the laundry. Hallelujah! 

The Big Push

I worked like crazy to get the house in shape so that when Michaela's friend came over, and her mom stepped in the door for a minute, it wouldn't seem like moving day in our entry. There were at least ten boxes, mostly smallish, from Amazon orders and a couple of other things! Also in the entry? A giant pack of paper towels, and a giant pack of toilet paper. 

We've got paper products covered, folks. Just walk in, grab a roll, and head to where you need to be. 

Good grief. 

I tidied up all the shoes, and relocated the paper airplanes, and straightened the hats, and sorted the bags. I vacuumed the stairs and the hallway. I also cleaned the bathrooms. 

Apparently, the impetus for me to clean the house is company. This is unfortunate, because I don't really like to have people over. And that is unfortunate, since it seems that I crave company and an audience a lot of the time. 

The real point of this story is that I tried very hard to make the area which our guest would be in most of the time pleasant. Michaela straightened up her room as well. Then the big girls and Eliana ended up playing in Eliana's room, which outside of my own bedroom, is the messiest place in the whole house. 

Ah well. The best laid plans...a person can only do so much...there's always tomorrow...why do today what you can put off until next week...

Wait. I think I got that last one wrong.

At any rate, my dishes are done for the night (And just for the story of it...I was unloading the dishwasher, which had been half unloaded earlier in the day (most of which had been used), and I looked at a couple of the things that I took out and couldn't quite decide if the washer had actually been run. I finally concluded that it hadn't (I will never truly know, I suppose) and put all the things back in there that I had put away (that I could remember) and finished loading it with what was in the sink and on the counter. Then I said a little prayer that went something like this: "Lord, please let our immune systems do their jobs. Thank you."), and I've got some laundry to switch out, and I really need to get our stuff ready for church tomorrow, since we have an extra person to get out the door in the morning. 

We're so good at leaving for church at half-past-too-late that I'm sure it will not be a problem to leave a bit earlier than we normally need to in order to drop Michaela's friend off so she can go to church with her family.

Now I'm off to do my exercise video quickly (I mean, no quicker than I usually do it, so I don't really know what I mean by that) and take my shower tonight. I am hoping to show you something tomorrow that will prove just how exciting things get around here! You won't be able to sleep now, will you?

Fitness Friday: Fugghettabouttit

Sometimes, I make myself laugh. I hope I make you laugh too. Just looking at that crazy word fugghettabouttit makes me giggle.

The day after my last Fitness Friday post (I just typed "Fitmess" which is truly a more appropriate word.) I was hurrying from the back of the house to the stairs (why was I hurrying...I have no idea) and in an ironic twist of fate, I smashed my pinkie toe into the vacuum while at top speed. It didn't feel so good. In fact, I thought for sure I had broken my toe. For days, it hurt just when I was sitting, much less when I walked around on it. 

You can imagine how much exercising was going on during these days. (Not much.)

I am realizing this was now two weeks ago. Two weeks! Where does the time go, people? (Person? Is anyone reading this blog? Actually, I know Mindee reads, and I know my mom reads...so hello! And thank you!)

I'll tell you where it goes. It goes faster and faster, as each day passes, into our personal histories, made up of laundry, and dishes, and stores, and school, and driving, and brushing teeth, and procrastinating cleaning, and listening to three children play tin whistles or a recorder. 

I'll tell you another thing. That will take some years off of your life. I love them. I love these kids. But...the tin whistle? The recorder? I need some ear plugs. And maybe some blood pressure medicine.

So, my toe. My poor, bruised toe was, for a while, out of commission as far as exercise goes. I can now wiggle it without feeling any pain whatsoever, and I am very grateful to report a full recovery. And I had good intentions, the best of intentions, to exercise tonight (and I still might squeeze it in...it's a new Friday, after all) but around 5pm I remembered that I had told a friend that her daughter can spend the night tomorrow. And then I remembered that my house looks like a tornado went through it. And all of the bathrooms need to be cleaned. And thinking about these things did not lift my spirits. In fact, I closed my eyes, curled up in a ball, and pretended to be somewhere else. Possibly at a Rangers' baseball game.

BUT THEY'RE NO LONGER PLAYING THIS YEAR! 

Sorry.

I did get up and get dinner ready (I even made banana bread!) and eventually got all the kids in bed. But I am still facing down some laundry piles that make Mount Everest look like a mere speck of an anthill, as well as some messes that just need to get put away or thrown away. 

Ask me how project Clear Off Flat Surfaces is going. Go on. Ask.

So, my exercise tonight might have to come in the form of going up and down the stairs a few hundred times, and pushing the vacuum through the house. At least if I'm behind it, I can't whack my toe on it. Theoretically.

Just a Few Things

A picked up schoolroom, a vacuumed rug

Brains full of facts - science facts, history facts, math facts, Latin facts, grammar facts, geography facts

Vanilla wafers spread with Nutella

Children who love art and music

Laughing, laughing, hysterical laughing

Paper airplanes and whiteboards

A pretend princess and her court

A unanimously approved dinner

Brothers reading to little sisters

Sometimes at the end of the day, it's good to remember the things that made you smile. 

Playground

I remember bringing Eliana to the church playground shortly after she had been born, so that Christian and Michaela could run around. Eliana, of course, just hung out in her stroller.

How is it possible that she now hangs out on the monkey bars?

I used to take pictures of her with my phone and send them to my mom on her phone; Eliana would just lie in her infant carrier smiling at me while her siblings went up and down the slide. 

When she got a little bigger, I carried her in the Baby Bjorn. She could see what was going on that way.

I think she was taking mental notes all that time. 

After years of input, she has become a master at play.

She still smiles at me, 

but instead of sitting on the sidelines, she has moved up in the world. Or at least at the playground.

Instead of riding in the stroller,

she has her own set of wheels. (Well, we borrow them for a while, anyway.)

She is much more interested in doing than in sitting!

Oh, she'll stop for a minute or two...

but then she's off again!

Her cheeks tell the story.

She's happiest when she's moving forward. 

I'm just glad she still stops to sit in my lap from time to time.