Time Out!

As many of you know, I hate poop. It is the bane of my very existence and has been since the day that my oldest son had his first blow out on my mother's white couch.

For some reason or another it seems to be my 'thorn in my flesh' as Paul says in Corinthians. Let me just share with you what he says in that verse in the New Living Translation: ...But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness."

I have been known to have 'poop' meltdown moments in the past. Like sitting down on the stairs and having a good cry in the middle of running up the stairs to take care of one child and then running down the stairs to take care of another and then running back up the stairs...you get the point.

This morning began a bit crazy as usual. Upon one of my many trips up the stairs to check on the little ones, I took a moment to shut the door of my bedroom and pray that God would help me today because it is already appearing to be way out of control and I am feeling overwhelmed. Little did I know that a 'messenger from Satan' would soon be making an appearance.

As we were sitting around the table schooling this morning, we came to a point where I instructed the older kids to continue working on what was before them so that I could take a quick shower. Only a few minutes into my shower, I hear Grace yelling urgently on the other side of the door that my five year old had poop up his back and it was everywhere. Oh, and that my three year old was poopy also. A major groan escaped my lips along with the words, why, oh, why must I be tortured. I have begged the Lord way, way more than three times to take this agony away but yet it seems to continue from one child to the next.

It took every ounce of will power to get out of the shower and face what laid beyond door number one. As I opened the door, what did I find but the evidence of leaking poop everywhere. It was on the sheets of many beds, on the floor, down the stairs, on the kitchen chairs, on the kitchen floor, in the living room and on the blankets. All that I could say is...Lord, help me NOW, please! As I was shaking my fist in the air, yelling...I will NOT be beat down, I will overcome this, I felt God's peace for the moment.

Never in my wildest dream, did I ever anticipate that my prayer would be answered so quickly. Under normal circumstances, I tend to yell, scream, fight the urge to beat something and run screaming from the room. But today, Brad and Grace had already begun to clean up the mess that had hit the floor, sheets, etc without me asking. This never happens so I believe that God was behind their motivation. He does say that when you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.

Another evidence of my prayer was the fact that I didn't have a meltdown poop moment. God was there making me strong in my weakness. I was able to get it all cleaned up including two children and still my sanity remains in tact. If anyone should ask me about my day today, my answer will be: Go to the blog. I cannot talk about it but you can read about it. The line between sanity and insanity is still hanging in the balance.