February 22, 2008

Minor Irritations

I could list all four of my children here, but that wasn't really the point of this post's title! I've had the blahs all week, been frustrated and discouraged, and just have generally felt cranky, irritable, and, well, like a failure when it comes to doing what I'm supposed to.

Sometimes I feel as if I'm fairly "good" at weathering life's major storms. Owner of our house foreclosed upon and we have to move? OK, no problem. (The first time, that is...) Sick child needs to go to ER? All right, let's go. Eight weeks into a pregnancy and my baby is gone? Difficult, but the nearness of God and the overwhelming sense of His love and majesty brought me through in a way I never would have imagined.

So why, then, do I have such a terrible time with daily irritations?? Why can't I accept life's minor problems and frustrations with humor and grace as a regular response instead of an exceptional one?

Here is a smattering of life's minor irritations that have come my way this last week:

* My keys--gone. I am highly suspicious that a short person made off with them, but there's no proof yet. They've been MIA since after the Valentine's Day party last week. If anyone has any ideas where I should look, please let me know, because I think I've checked just about every possible location.

* The IRS informed us that we made a mistake on last year's return, and we had to pay $211. Sigh. At least it's not $2,000.

* Arden dumped a full glass of milk on his way to the table yesterday. Not only did it spill in the immediate vicinity (table, chairs, wall), but it also BOUNCED (I've never seen milk bounce before, but trust me, that's the best word here) up onto the dividing wall, onto the Sonlight instructor's guide that was on top of the wall, OVER the wall (it's fairly short), and onto the floor in the family room.

* Kenna managed to drop a container of grape tomatoes onto the floor at the commissary yesterday. The kids helped me chase them all down, and since it was my fault that the package was within the reach of Miss Inquisitive, I felt obligated to buy it anyway. I will scrub the tomatoes and we will enjoy them. Or else!!

* The drain clogged up yesterday, causing some alarm that there was a problem with the garbage disposal. The gross stinky water sat in there all day. Thankfully, My Hero came home from work last night and figured out that it was simply blocked in the U-bend. He sacrificed wearing his favorite pair of flannel pants for the evening after getting them yucky while making repairs. Thank God for my husband!!!

* Kenna has decided that afternoon naps are optional. A nearly one-year-old who keeps herself awake for 6-8 hours at a stretch is NOT a happy baby, no matter what people may tell you.

* Taking 4 children to the eye doctor at 4:30 p.m. on a day when Kenna's total nappage equalled 2 hours was probably closer to a Major Irritation rather than a minor one, but I'll stop here.

You get the idea. Nothing earth-shattering, nothing traumatic, nothing that makes me want to bury my head and weep for days. But frustrating and difficult when it seems one irritation comes on top of another.

I'm in the throes of trying to get started writing the Bible study for Commission, and I'm sure a big part of my discouragement is the spiritual warfare that we always seem to encounter this time of year. In fact, Ted was quicker to point it out this year, as we have definitely noticed a trend of an alarming number of Minor Irritations that hit us at once when I "officially" begin working on the Bible study!

Please keep me in your prayers if you think of it. The youth camp in Idaho is a significant ministry for our family and our dear friends that we meet each year. God always does great things in spite of ourselves, and I can't wait to see how He will help me overcome these small obstacles for His greater glory.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I'll keep you in my prayers. I think this is officially "Irritation Week" because you're the umpteen millionth mom I've heard of who's had a bad week. Yesterday when Rob called, I told him I'd hand the phone over to the people in charge. I also abandoned the family for a shower when he got home and came down acting like a human again.

And look for your keys in your husband's Sunday shoes. When I lost mine several years ago, the grandson of the people I lived with had hidden them in his grandpa's shoes. It's worth a look!

Amos said...

The devil is such a dang LIER! Causing all of us to be sick, irritated, mad, sad, depressed, blah blah blah. Well it is time for him to stop winning and for the LORD to be MAGNIFIED!!! There are times when my strength is high, and you can well imagine that I will be stomping the victory path for your family while I am. As for the keys, stop looking, ask the Lord, and I know they will surface quickly.

Amy Kilpatrick said...

Oh, Beverly, hang in there! I TOTALLY understand how you feel. I had one of those weeks a few weeks ago. Next week will be much better - keep chugging on! BTW, my 15-month old is NOT a napper either. He will, however, fall asleep in my arms (playing with my hair) and I can lay him on the couch. He'll sleep there for upwards of 1.5 hours WITH the TV on in the background! It must be something to do with the noise. Good luck!

Bob and Claire said...

Oh Beverly, I'l be praying for you too. I can totally relate. It's always the little things for me too, and I can let them build up to a huge release over an incredibly minor thing, which then makes me feel just awful! I was reading a good blog entry by someone on this subject a little while back . . . I'll have to find it and post it.

Anonymous said...

Our prayers are also with you. Have you had a chance to go for a run or just take some time to do some yoga stretching? EVen an evening soak in a hot bubble bath? Sorry about Kenna not napping. Meghan gave up naps at 2 years old. Some friends had their little one try and give up naps at an early age and mom said no way and made her at least try and after a few weeks she started napping again. Good luck because having a tired cranky baby in the house makes everyone cranky.

You will make it through. We are often strong for those big things that come our way but the little ones can add up to seem worse than the big things. Remember to take some quiet time for yourself.

I am always amazed when reading your posts how much you manage to do and to seem so cheerful and energetic. Sometimes you need to take a break from the routine and mix things up a bit. Remember what Charis said about never going to the park after your friends moved, maybe you need to take a short trip somewhere or just to a new park for a picnic (weather permitting).

A friend found her husbands keys in the bottom of the toy bin.

Anonymous said...

Prayers! I think a lot of it is the time of year. All of the homeschool moms around here say that February is the worst month and that everybody starts getting a case of the crankies.

I remember when Sela dropped her afternoon nap at 11 months old. We had some 5:30 p.m. bedtimes there for a while, because she still insisted on a morning nap but then wanted to stay up all afternoon and was in royal meltdown mode by dinnertime. Her transition to a normal afternoon nap seemed to take forever, and then she figured out how to get out of her crib at 17mo, so we moved her to a big bed and that messed naps up all over again. :(