Friday's Coming Soon

I live in loud, crazy, hyperactive, controlled chaos.  Summer is a mad celebration of creativity and growth in this house.  It feels a little like a roller coaster these days.  One minute I laugh with joy, The next, I scream at inanimate objects that do not cooperate with my frazzled cries.

I LOVE roller coasters.  I LOVE getting to spend all this time with the little Wilks'es.  Really, I do.  But sometimes, I need a break.  So, Friday is coming.  My sweet husband has planned a mega-date to celebrate my new writing endeavors, and to give us a chance to step off the roller coaster for a while.  My amazing parents are taking four kiddos Friday afternoon for overnight fun. I am  more than just a little excited.

For roughly 24 hours:

 1.  I will me able to use the bathroom, and even shower without causing anyone tears or calamity.
2.  My food will be warm when  I eat it. It will not resemble a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a hot dog.
3.  Literary discussions will not include Captain Underpants or My Little Pony.
4.  I will not referee a single fight.
5.  I will not clean a single mess, or wash a single dish.
6.  Laundry will wait.
7.  I will not hear, "Mom, I have a booger, Wanna pick it?"
8. None of my time will be spent dealing with anyone else's potty mess.
9.  At no point will we listen to any music played on Wow-Wow-Wubzy or the Wiggles.
10. I will not hunt for a sippy or shoes.
11. Nothing other than ice will come out the my ice maker.
12. I will wake up by my own power, not by yelling children, or crashing vacuums.

And when I return on Saturday to the joyous ride, I will be a little more refreshed and a little less frazzled.  My hair might actually in place. I will take one look into four curious pairs of deep blue eyes and realize that I have missed every single second of it.

I will be ready to go again.  But right now, I need to get away. I need time to breathe, to think, to recharge, to re-focus.  I need to remember what to celebrate.  I have been busy trying to raise good kids.  I don't want to lose sight of all the good God has already put there.

Maybe that is why Jesus is always stealing moments alone to pray.  Everyone always needs something more.  Someone forever misses the point.  People press in at every turn.  It must have been hard, in the midst of the roller coaster of everything of  to remember why He came.  What did He want to celebrate and bring out in us, His children? What parts will not be missed as they are left behind?

One day, He will return.  All will be made right, and He will be ready to start again.  And he will look deep into our eyes, and we will realize: We have lived, for every single second, of this.