A Day of Rest

I love being a stay-at-home mom. I really do.

But this was not my week.

Jeremiah is three. Need I say more? He is pushing every limit, refuses to follow directions most of the time, gets into everything, manhandles his little brother and is potty-training. That is the recipe for a stressful week. Add to that his propensity for not napping and I was beat by Wednesday evening.

I admit it - I cried. I questioned my parenting. I kind of shut down.

And then God came through. Like He always does.

I decided we were staying home Thursday. My parents were coming that evening so I needed to get the house ready. And I wanted to have a day at home to see if Jeremiah and I could co-exist peacefully. And I was REALLY hoping he would nap. Or at least be quiet in his room for even a half hour.

I put him in his room with books at 1:30. And it was quiet. So quiet that I forgot that I had laid him down in there. After about a half hour, I dared to peak into his room. And...

HE WAS ASLEEP!

I had to contain my excitement until I carefully shut the door. Then I did a little dance. Very quietly, of course.

I proceeded to clean in peace for the next 2 hours! In the past, I would be tempted to turn on the TV or some music to "keep me company" while I cleaned. But I was just enjoying the silence too much to ruin it with anything else.

I finished my cleaning, spent some time in the Word, worked on some MOPS stuff and played around on Facebook. All in silence. It was glorious.

And I was so delighted to snuggle him when he finally woke up. I love that part :)

So whatever you may believe about the Sabbath - Saturday or Sunday, work or no work - I got mine this week.

Cleaning in peace on a Thursday afternoon.