Some days are wonderful… filled to the brim with joy, packed with adventure and made perfect with great insta-pics. Today was not one of those days.

My house has looked like the remains of a tornado for the greater part of the last forty-eight hours. We eventually made it to church yesterday, but missed the service entirely… Why is it that Sunday mornings look like arguments, boxes of diapers thrown about a bedroom, muddy church outfits, missing shoes and empty milk jugs? Lord help us! Half of the kids had early bedtime tonight for misbehaving… and there was yelling today… and not just from them. My dear husband and I have been hot and cold since yesterday and one embarrassing disaster after another has fallen. In the last two days we each double booked/goofed the calendar/stood someone up. Today we spent a couple of hours trying to figure out how to pay a bill I had forgotten about… of course we could only pay online with any card except a visa… which is of course the only kind we carry. After nearly two moths of sleeping through the night the baby was up twice last night, and I never did go running today. All I wanted was a sweet cozy Monday of tree trimmings and Christmas cheer. Here it is, after 1:00 AM and I’m just finishing up photos for tomorrow morning’s viewing. Where did today go? And where was the cheer? I still have thank you cards to write (three months out), I might just be the worst photographer you know, I will fail as a wife, mother and friend, and yup… my oven is dirty, there is a basket of laundry overflowing and I haven’t shaved my legs in weeks.
We aren’t that busy, it’s not as simple as clearing the calendar. I do believe that the problem is more with the heart. With God, we can do all things… but on our own… life is just one big tangled face plant.

I am so thankful that each new day is accompanied by new mercies. I am so thankful that His faithfulness is forever. I am so thankful that His grace is sufficient and that I am accepted not by my own merit. When my heart is prone to wander He loves me still. When I fall short I am justified by grace, as a gift. I have no reason to boast, but only in the one who is my strength, who is my joy, who cleanses me and makes me presentable, who gives me favor among men when I am less then deserving, who is peace and beckons me to still waters and streams of content. I am thankful for his Word where truth is remembered and freedom is found. I think I might emerge from this pit tomorrow, lift my chin a little and aim to set my mind on things above.