I'm running away!

Do you ever feel like running away? I do…but not in the sense that you’re probably thinking. Oh, how I would enjoy a few days, or weeks, of sleeping in, meals without convincing one or all three to eat their vegetables, not doing laundry or dishes, not running kids to book club, swimming, basketball or cub scouts. I can’t begin to tell you how elated I’d be if all I had to worry about was what I was going to wear, eat or how to spend MY time. But, you know what? I don’t want to run away from all of that…ALONE! I want to run away from the daily grind WITH my family.

In all of the hustle and bustle of moving three times since June, extra curricular activities, packing lunches, laying out clothes, signing permission slips, grocery shopping, picking out light fixtures, paint colors and flooring, I sometimes forget what all of that is for. I most certainly didn’t have a family so that I could zip through life taking care of only their needs and not having any fun! My son reminded me last night that I hadn’t sit down all day. I immediately thought to myself, “You’re right, Gabe.” I wished that Matt had heard him say that! But he wasn’t reminding me of that because he wanted me to sit down and take a break, he wanted me to sit down and play Memory with him!

No matter how hard I try to keep up with all of the ‘stuff,’ it’s never going to be all done! Even if I wash every piece of our clothing and clean every square inch of this house, it’s not going to stay that way for long…soon there will be dirt on the floor and clothes in the hamper! Heck, 10 minutes after I give the kids a bath, they’ve got Cheetos on their fingers and milk mustaches!

Our life has seemed to go through spurts where we have a few months of running and ALWAYS seem busy, but then settle down a bit. But I’ll be honest, since June, I don’t think ANYTHING has slowed down! I made some major adjustments in our routine a few weeks back…some things I really struggled with but thought were best for our family, and still, we’re ALWAYS on the run! I keep saying, “When things aren’t as busy.” You know what? We’re a family of five and the kids are growing up…things are probably going to STAY BUSY!!! I try to re-evaluate my priorities from time to time and remind myself how important it is to stay on track…this is one of those times!

My faith…my husband and children …and the ‘other stuff’…in that order…

I seem to be failing at all three right now. I could list (and it would be a LONG list) all of my failures as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. Although that sounds like fun, I’m not going to do that! There’s good news in all of this, although it may sound like a pity party. Because of grace, I’m forgiven of all of my failures. Secondly, simply acknowledging my failures and shortcomings are growth and reason for change.

I was taking the boys to school this morning and a large buck ran across the street, right in front of us! Gabe said, “Look at that big deer. It has a huge rack!” Nate said, “That’s not nice.” My heart sank…did he really know what else ‘rack’ could mean? He’s only a second grader! Upon further discussion, he explained to me that he thought “Mommy was really off track!” Two things here…my kids hear about as well as I do and Nate was right! Mommy has been off track, and I’m gettin’ back on track!!!

Since it’s not the best time to take my family and run away from our busy schedule, I’m going to run away with them…without going anywhere, or at least no where far! If you are currently, ‘the other stuff,’ I’m sorry, because whatever you need from me, you’ll have to wait!

I journaled this last week and hesitated posting it because it seemed to me like a sermon, and typically, I don’t blog my ‘deep’ journaling! I was talking with a friend this morning and this very topic came up! Thanks Amy, for encouraging me to post this!

Friends…run away with your kids, with me! Run away from the laundry room, kitchen and computer, to your children’s rooms, the floor, the backyard, and the park or to the couch! And one more thing...find a sitter and go on a date with your husband. He probably needs to run away, too!