This morning when I went to get my sweet baby up for a busy day...
taking big kids to school, coffee with friends, lunch duty at the big kids' school, and a Costco trip before picking the big kids back up...
I discovered Mary had thrown up.
All over her crib, and her just-bathed-last-night self.
The clock read 7:30. We needed to leave by 7:45.
It's probably no surprise (especially if you know us!) that I don't leave much of a my-baby-might-throw-up cushion in our mornings. We generally have JUST enough time to get ready, eat some breakfast, and get out the door in time to show up five minutes late to wherever it is we're going. :)
I live in the itty bitty margins of life's page. With minimal room to spare.
Not really because I LIKE teetering on the edge, or because I ENJOY showing up places embarrassingly late. I don't. But I have five children, and this whole parenting thing is a delicate balancing act of priorities and bare necessities and sanity preservation. "I could NEVER have five kids aged six an under", people tell me. Wellllllll, you probably COULD--but you'd have to let some stuff go. Inch closer to the edge. And be okay with that. I rarely entertain, sometimes we go days without going anywhere, and when I'm sick the kids watch Disney movies in rapid succession.
And, when the baby gets sick, I throw her in the tub, throw her soiled laundry in the washing machine, give her some Tylenol, grab some old towels for the car-ride, and pray she doesn't get sick again. As my four other kids scramble to get in the car.
Small margins.
I will tell you that we still made it to school ON TIME, vomit-free, enjoyed coffee with friends and now we are off to do lunch-duty. So far, so good.
But as any mama knows, that could change. We mamas who live in the itty bitty margins of life especially know that. And maybe I don't need big margins.
Because God meets me in this cluttered, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants space.
And I'm learning to be okay with that.
2 comments:
oh man. that margin is small, but somehow i live there right with you!!! and i love that god meets me there every. single. time.
Things will change. We were counting our blessings a few mornings ago, and I pointed out that no one had thrown up in at least two monthes. My 9 children stared at me. I reminded them of the time we were ALL sick and we had college students living with us. They were downstairs with our only bathroom. We all laid in front of the t.v. on towels passing around a bucket the entire day. Our boarders would come empty the bucket every hour or so. It was aweful! They all remembered that and we thanked God that He has brought us out of that place, to land of more experienced immune systems. This too shall pass.
Of course it will be followed by other adventures, so keep the seat of you pants covered, you'll be flying by them for a while. God is good, even out to the edge of the cliff.
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