Thank you Michelle

This morning while working out, I was complaining to my buddies about Ryan being gone a lot lately which has left me doing the solo parenting and putting kids to bed most nights. The past 2 1/2 weeks have also been random schedules because my mom is gone and others are filling in with kid duty. Last night particularly was rough though. I couldn't get Bethany to bed with screaming. I would let her scream for a while before going back in her room. My efforts to soothe her worked until I would place her back in her bed. Tired and with a long list of house chores to accomplish, I was frustrated with Bethany's lack of sleeping. This went from 815 to midnight. At midnight I rolled over and she was out. I was thankful since I knew my alarm would be going off in 5 1/2 hours. Just 5 minutes later Scott walked in the room because he was scared. I thought "seriously, can a tired mom get any sleep tonight?" I finally got him settled in Bethany's bed and carried her limp body in their to snuggle with him. I was so tempted to go downstairs and start cleaning but I knew I needed my sleep!

All that to preface my conversation with my buddies this morning. As I was sharing my story, Michelle shared something interesting with me. As we seek to live like Jesus lived (which isn't easy in our culture), she reminded me that some of Jesus' followers were married. They were gone doing ministry with Jesus which means that they weren't home to tuck their kids in bed at night. When she was really struggling with her husband being gone most nights, she thought about this and it made it easier to deal with. God called them to serve and minister and they weren't able to tuck their kids into bed each night. I had never thought of that. Though I want to be like Christ, I struggle to look to the bible for those kinds of things. I'm so thankful that Michelle shared that with me and a refreshing thought... even though that wasn't what I wanted to hear, it was what I needed to hear.

***Disclaimer***
I'm not saying that its acceptable for husbands/dads to be gone every night all the time. I think there's a difference between those guys out gratifying themselves and being out for ministry/service. I also understand that there needs to be a balance in life and I'm glad to know that Ryan's VBS train building will be short lived since VBS starts on Saturday!