Thankful for the Dirt

I spent ALL day Saturday moving the kids rooms around. I do mean ALL day. I pulled a muscle in my back somewhere along the way, and I am in PAIN!! And today it has been frustrating to see their un-gratefulness after all the work I put into it. I have my licensing worker for foster care coming tomorrow, so I will have to clean house early in the morning. It isn't that it is horrible - just frustrating that they show no appreciation or help by picking up after themselves.

Then they played outside for about 2 hours today, and I knew they were playing in the dirt, and that didn't bother me... What DID bother me was when I went outside I saw that they had used a shovel to dig a hole about 4 ft by 3 ft and about 8 inches deep; they turned the water hose on to make mud so they could dig easier, then left the water hose on which I found about an hour after they were finished playing. Then they used my kitchen bowls to carry their mud in to the patio in front of the door leading into the backyard and deposited their dirt/mud right there in front of the door. Grrrr....

BUT...I am humbled tonight, and reminded several times over to be thankful for the little hands that played in the dirt and made the mess.

Matt had a former student to die in a car accident yesterday morning. She graduated in '09; but with it being a smaller Christian school, it still hit them hard. Heather had an identical twin sister, and the two of them were VERY close!!! I look at Ty and La (with them being twins and the bond they have) and I can't imagine how one of them would cope with losing the other. And I can't even begin to imagine the pain of losing a child. It was hard enough praying for a child and going through infertility, the thought of losing one of them is almost too much to even imagine.

Then one of our medical foster parents in the same program as me, died very unexpectedly this morning.

Then at church tonight a lady that lost her 6 year old niece in a golf cart accident back in April was asking me if she could bring some of the clothes that she had bought for Bella to Lauren because she really wanted someone to have them, and didn't want to return them.

All of these people grieving over the death of loved ones. You know... dirt on the patio, a hole in the yard, toys and clothes on the floor - they aren't such big things after all. I will gladly have the dirt and the mess and have my family. Sadness has filled our house tonight with everything going on... but it also reminds me how blessed I truly am; and how I need to let the little things go.

Thank you Jesus for my family!!!!!! PLEASE be with these families who have lost loved ones in the past few days and months; please bring healing to their hurting hearts in only a way that you can. I pray especially for Heather's twin sister; please comfort her and be near to her.

Jesus please help me to balance teaching the kids responsibility and just appreciating and enjoying every moment I have with them.