Don't freak.....we're just moving our blog this time, not our family!
You can now find us at:
http://thevfiles.wordpress.com/
Update your bookmarks and Google Reader (if you even know what those things are).
One of the main reasons behind the switch was the opportunity for guest commenting, which Vox does not allow at this time. Instead of requiring an account as you currently need, all that is necessary now in order to put your two cents in is a valid e-mail address. In short, I am expecting a comment from you, especially Nana, for I know she reads the blog ;O).
So click on over. A new post awaits!
On Good Friday, as our house endured some furious rain and small pelts of hail, a mere 25 minute zip on the Interstate away, tornadoes were touching down, treating trees like toothpicks and moving cars like small marbles. Soon we discovered that the powerful element of Mother Nature had briefly visited the neighborhood of Thomas’s sister and her family. Once stowed away in the bathroom of their house for a just under two minutes, they emerged to find many homes around them equipped with new views, for entire roofs and/or entire sides of a house no longer existed. Their immediate neighbors once had a storage shed outside that was no where to be found, yet its contents were visible in nearly every yard around. Nice wooden privacy fences that once stood tall and useful suddenly became flat pancakes in the grass. Telephone poles and other debris covered the streets out from and into their home. Power was out and the sound of news helicopters and chainsaws began to fill the air. The images I was viewing on the news soon were visible in my living room via their digital camera. Safe and sound, our family arrived for what was to become a slumber party, of sorts.
Elizabeth brought some perishable items, and we crammed them into our fridge and freezer. The kiddos played like maniacs, and I began to develop sleeping arranges for our four sudden guests. Thomas began prepping our spaghetti dinner and everyone was just prayerful for those still discovering the destruction and thankful for our family’s safety, as well as the protection of their home and possessions.
As some of the aerial images from the events were flashed up on the television, Daniel had a great description of the scene: “Oh no! A MESS!”
A mess…..yes, certainly.
Tornadoes in this area are something we are accustomed to, or tornado warnings at least, for it seems like the weatherman is always reporting on something pending. There will be touchdowns, typically even in your city, but it is a totally different story when it is your home being hit, or the one next to you for that matter. Although it was not our home and neighbors, it was our immediate family, and it makes the events seem surreal. We were very grateful to be able to help them out and give them a lighted house, hot water, and fresh/hot food to eat. Daniel was ecstatic to have playmates. Overall, Jon and Liz are very happy to have a home to return to, and many in the area are forever grateful to still have a life.
After Daniel noted the mess being seen on TV, the news reporter of that station made a comment that “Good Friday” must now not be considered so good to many. Quickly, however, viewers e-mailed and called the station, claiming that instead of “Good Friday,” it is “Great Friday,” for the survivors had another day to live and just one more reason to be thankful during this Easter season.
SO true.
Today, I am tired with no specific reason why, for I went to bed early, sleeping until the last possible minute before Thomas headed to work. I know I have perfect reasons to be tired—growing a baby, caring for a toddler, CEO of a household, and teaching 2 days a week, but it is not really one of those specifically impacting me today. I am, for the lack of better words, "blah." And, to be honest, the blah has made me treat my son differently. I, like most folks, have a shorter fuse when in a bad mood, and the things we might normally do to pep me or him up are not viable options on bad weather days (going to the park, playing in his new sandbox, blowing bubbles outside, etc.). We, therefore, hobbled through the morning until naptime. With Daniel napping, I really wanted to sit on the couch and watch some brainless TV, but a huge storm front is currently coming through, and the only thing on my non-cable television is the local weatherman’s storm warnings, Doppler radar images, and pictures of hail and funnel clouds.
Alternatively, I decided to check my GoogleReader. After reading a few blog posts, I came across one from a family we use to attend church with before moving. In fact, Steven and his wife, Michelle, taught our SS class, and they had a second daughter just a few weeks before Daniel was born. They were truly a wonderful couple. Sadly, my use of past tense is correct, for Michelle passed away very suddenly just over a year ago. I watched Steven live out my worst nightmare. As he attempted to juggle sudden single parenthood, a job as a professor, and extreme grief, he somehow stayed in one piece. His post I read today told of how he made a digital photo book of ‘08, in attempts to keep with the tradition his wife set of constructing elaborate, heirloom worthy, scrapbooks. Briefly, he mentioned what was in the book. Next, he took a moment to say what wasn’t: “So what’s not there? Well, there are no pictures of the days in January I spent laying on the floor, crying uncontrollably. There are no pictures of the nights I lost my temper and threw cups down the hall. Nothing to show how dead to the world I was some days, and nothing to indicate how lonely some days were (and still are sometimes).”
If that does not touch your heart, you might want to go and
get yours checked. Reading this entry after being in my blah, tired mood made
me think of how humans, mommies especially, tend to leave out details of a
crummy day, and we fill our photo albums, blogs, conversations, and status
updates with the things that make us and our family look good: smiling faces,
awards won, promotions earned, milestones reached, but rarely do we admit, as
Steven did, to the bad moments, the times when we do not have it all together.Everything is always "good."
So, in a sort of confession mode (1 John 1:9), here are some things that occurred this morning, which are out of my norm and definitely not scrapbook worthy:
- I did not show the interest Daniel deserved when he kept trying to show me things.
- I gave him time-out for not listening when I should have given him more time to respond to/understand my request.
- I put in a Veggie movie and sat next to him reading a magazine because that was easier than having to interact and take my “turn momma” after he growled, hopped, or clapped.
- I served a less than well-balanced lunch of milk, peas, and mandarin oranges in an effort to not have to fix anything else.
- I did not read him a book before nap, even though he asked me to do so.
- I yelled at him “Go to sleep!” from downstairs when he cried for me to turn on his light during naptime.
There you go.
And although I know none of you ever thought it, I am not perfect. I get angry and frustrated. I totally miss the mark, and my excuses for doing so are much less respectable than Steven’s. It is, however, on days like today, that I am thankful for the forgiving nature of a toddler. He will wake up and remember nothing of the unfair time-out and the unnecessary yell. Instead, Daniel will wake up and love me so much, thinking I am the best mommy ever. Isn’t that a relief! And, for the people that do remember ill-treatment, I am forever grateful to be covered in Christ’s forgiveness.
My plan is not to blog only Debbie Downer posts, but I do think there is something to be said for showing humanness, and I am certain that others of you have less than scrapbook worthy moments, which just might need to be shared.
