Skip to main content

peace in the mists of temptation

As I sat on the couch, my left side of the front of my shirt covered with spit up, my hair pulled back in the remnants of a pony tail, my head stuffed up from a cold, a baby at my breast, and a toddler screaming from his room.... my eyes began to fill with tears. I begin to think, "I cannot do this. I cannot be patient, loving, kind, and carry on today." I am weary.

I began to cry out to God- I had just read Psalm 4- and it helped...but the tears still came. This scene followed the most tempting grocery experience I have had in my life as a mom... two kids, one cart, and temper tantrums.... I started with Tyler pushing his own little cart- bad idea to begin with. The car seat balanced precariously on the handle bars and basket in the front of the cart... that had to change, so I put Tyler in the basket and Jack in the cart... now there is no room for the milk and toilet paper and other things we needed... "How in the world am I going to do this," I ask my self? The tantrums carried on up and down the aisles, shoes kept flying, sippy cups leaked, and food kept being grabbed and almost consumed... I kept telling myself, "Speak kindly, in measured tones..." both to my own heart and the angry toddler in the cart! Thank goodness Jack was sound asleep! I called Jordan, unable to resist the urges to give into my anger... weak, weary and unsure how to proceed without physically injuring someone.

He pointed me back to the fact that Tyler was sin was primarily against God and not me. My high calling was to help him, train him and love him. That helped... We came home, ate lunch, and I put Tyler down for a nap- which he woke up from after 1 hour... not good.

Back to me crying on the couch... I had put Tyler back down, to hear the cries of a hungry Jack... here we began our little story of the day. So the question filled my heart and mind, how do I do this with peace? How can I find peace when all I hear are screams and cries? How do I keep giving of myself...

The answer: I can be still in the middle of a storm, because it is well with my soul. The greatest need and the worst things that could come up against me, are nothing in light of who God is on his throne, and my standing in the righteousness of Christ... oh how that stills my soul. I read in his word, just moments ago, that if I ask, I will receive... I need grace. I need peace. He is kind to quickly fill my heart and give me the grace to choose to love and obey. So, now I go to help my big boy, train him not to give into the his little sinful anger, as I strive to do the very same thing.

God is good to sustain me when I am weak. How kind of him to remind me that I cannot do this on my own! And even now, my heart is filled with compassion for Tyler and a desire to kiss his little sinful face.

Comments

Jean said…
you're doing a great job, tali. I know it doesn't seem like it, but this is a short season. you will get to the other side. just don't try to rush it. enjoy the grace of God in the midst of it.

praying for you. :)
C. said…
You're post has encouraged my soul. That's what I needed to hear... Christ is in the midst of the storm saying, Peace be still. Even the wind and the waves obey him. He's in the boat with you asking for faith.

Love you and praying for you!

Popular posts from this blog

Diagnosis and Grace

Friends- "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" Psalm46:1 Much has happened since I last wrote only 2 short days ago. We found out much later that night a new diagnosis, that our sweet boy has leukemia . We were not completely shocked but we were certainly shaken. After I posted about what was going on at Shady Grove, and we waited a bit more for some results, and we were informed that we needed to take Jack to Children's Hospital in DC for further testing with specialists. This raised our concern level quite high as you can imagine, that even with a snow storm coming, we were needing to make this trip. I began to google the combination of things they had found in the tests done on our little boy (swollen spleen, low platelet count , swollen lymph nodes) and came up options that were NOT Lyme disease, although a few of these symptoms did also look like Lyme. As a result of the google quest, I came across some concerning outcomes, one of the most

.Results and Re-Admission.

I am so happy to share that the results from the bone marrow biopsy came back with the results we had hoped and prayed for! They said they found less than 0.1% Leukemic cells in his bone marrow!!! So this is such great news! The prognosis is a good one, and now we get to keep marching on into the next 3 years of making sure the Leukemia does not come back and he is fully in remission! Thank you all so much for all the prayers said on our behalf! I also have the happy report of how last night and this morning went as well... So last night, we woke Jack up at 11:30 to feed him one last time before midnight. He was so sweet and groggy but ate a bunch of nuggets and french fries. We gave him a bottle and put him in bed at midnight and hoped for the best... well, he did not wake up again until 4:45... which was AMAZING for us and him! That was a long stretch for the little guy! After that he cried for a while and Jordan tried distracting him with books and holding him for a while. Jordan w

.Please Pray.

It is hard to believe it has been a month since we first heard the words Leukemia from the Doctors at Children's Hospital. Is it possible for the days to be both long and fast and the nights to seem like they will never end, and yet they are all too short? Many days, by the time is is 5:30 or 6, I feel like I am about to loose my mind! Jordan coming home is the sweetest sight for me, and the boys! I think it is a universal law, that dinner time, no matter the circumstances of life you are in, is just tricky if you have children! And this month has been no exception. There are two reasons why I title this post as .Please Pray. One is that tonight is THE LONG ONE....after midnight, Jack is not allowed to eat until 10 or 11 am after his procedure. If you have been following the blog or talked to us, you know that this is no small feat. He has for the past 3 weeks been awake every 2 hours or so with several nights being every 20 minutes asking for food to eat- which he has eaten all of