Unrefined Material
Monday, October 1, 2012 at 8:59PM Monday. Monday, Monday, Monday. Monday just has a certain...quality, doesn't it?
I took Christian to school because Mike had an early meeting. (I won't even go into his morning. You can be sure it was a Monday too, if you know what I mean.) I headed home and things seemed fine. I thought about what I needed to accomplish today, even though all I wanted to do was get back in bed and sleep for a week. Shortly after I walked in the house, I checked my email and discovered a message from Christian's teacher. It had good news! We are the snack family this week! I quickly found something in the cabinet to take back to the school, grabbed all the cheese sticks we had out of the fridge (And do you know what? It was the exact number I needed. Does God have a sense of humor? At any rate, he takes care of me even when I leave little material to work with.), and slipped through the revolving door so that I could drive back over to the school. I dropped off the snack and came back home, walking through the front door at 10am.
I had gotten so much done!
About ten minutes later a friend called to ask if Michaela could come over at lunchtime.
Why not?!
Michaela did a little work, we reviewed the facts that we learned in our weekly class (it's on Tuesdays), and just after noon I dropped her off at her friend's.
Eliana was so sad that she was not going. I took her to get a special lunch.
For her, it's all about the chocolate milk. (Insert a picture of Eliana with chocolate milk here.)
I meant to take some happy pictures today, but instead I spent a lot of time...wasting time? I don't even know what I did the rest of the afternoon. The kids did some schoolwork, and suddenly it was dinnertime. Just the thought of going in my kitchen made me want to cry. Our dishwasher is full of broken glass (A skillet lid exploded in there.) (Mike worked on cleaning it out yesterday, but is likely going to need to dismantle the center spinny part in the bottom). There are clean but glassy dishes on my counter. My sink is full of dirty dishes because I'll be handwashing for hours once I start. The kids have been eating cereal out of my grandma's small metal bowls using iced tea spoons and baby spoons. I don't even know what those bowls are actually for. I found out they work for cereal. Rather than deal with this disaster, I got something out.
I'm not proud of it. I'm sad about it, actually. But the kids are pretty awesome. They take things in stride, even kitchens that require protective gear.
In case you're wondering, Mike had a meeting tonight too, so he missed all the fun, all day.
While I was in the car, driving home with the food, feeling lousy about the kitchen, the house, the laundry, I heard a song I had not heard before. Actually, I heard a version of a song that I loved years and years ago. Rich Mullins, who died in a car accident in 1997, sang The Apostles Creed, and it was one of my favorites (It is called "Creed"). Tonight I heard Third Day and Brandon Heath's cover of that song. It is amazing. If you know the song, you know the hammered dulcimer. They do such a good job. It had me in tears. I had to look it up when I got home. I don't normally do this, and I'm not even sure that I'm allowed to, (So let me know if I'm not!) but here is the recording.
I know it was pretty tame in light of more devastating things going on in the world, but the beginning of my day plus my lethargic, unproductive, bad-stewardliness by the end of the day left me feeling pretty stinking low. The words to this great creed plus the wonderful music of talented artists (from today and from a decade and a half ago) gave me a sweet reality check, and an opportunity to decide that tomorrow can be different.
In addition to the words of the creed, Rich Mullins adds this chorus:
And I believe that what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man
"...[I]t is making me." God is at work. May I be material that he can work with.
Reader Comments (2)
Great cover! I love that they stayed true to the original. It's a beautiful song though I had no idea that's what that instrument was.
I loved that song! Just what I needed to hear this morning!