Truly I tell you...

" ...anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward." Mark 9:41 I hope this is the same for a cup of coffee! What a day! It was a day! It began at 4:45am with crying that lasted 5 hours, and ended with more crying this evening. (My 5 year old does not like sleep!) By 6:30am, I had already accidentally been locked out of my house, with the baby and the dog, and had to knock on the neighbor's door for our extra keys. 10 minutes later, my neighbor was at my door with a cup of eggnog spice coffee. What a blessing! I made some blueberry pancakes to go with it and to try to turn things around, but the crying continued...

By 10:00am when the crying finally stopped, we did a craft! We made window gel clings from glue and glitter. You use the glue on wax paper, (I put a picture of snowflakes behind it for the girls trace!), and then sprinkle with glitter and wait several hours for them to dry.

Meanwhile, a good friend stopped by with an early Christmas surprise for the girls; a nativity set and... GEL CLINGS! So, we didn't even have to wait for ours to dry! How fun is that!

Blogging is such therapy for me. I can sit back and look at these pictures with the smiley faces and remember just how much I love these girls. I'm embarassed to admit I need a reminder, but after days like today... I do! Blogging also makes me remember the "small things" that are really "huge blessings." That cup of coffee... the visit from my friend with the gel clings... both of these things absolutely made my day!

I feel like God keeps trying to tell me that this is life. Parenting is not suppose to be an easy job. But, it's a rewarding job. It is not my goal to have my kids "be happy." I want them to live a life of purpose fulfilling God's destiny for them. My prayer should not be "Let Allison sleep," as I have been praying for years. Rather, "Teach Allison a lesson through her tears to rely on you more, and whatever else you are trying to teach her." I keep wanting to have God fix the problem, but instead I should be praying for Him to guide her as she goes through this trial.

Even though this is Allison's trial, the lack of sleep has affected the whole family! I'm glad to know that even if it takes time for Allison to learn whatever she is suppose to learn through this trial, at least God provides those around me who can stop and pray with me, give hugs, and... bring over a cup of coffee!

(Thanks for letting me ramble... it's time for bed!)