AuburnChick's Adventures

I run so hard that it’s nice, every once in a while, to have a quiet day.

I got up this morning and got myself ready for work. All I needed to do was iron my clothes. I usually do that after I run my daughter to high school…in my thick, fuzzy, white robe. Yes, I’m the crazy lady you see driving down the road with my head in a towel and night clothes still on. Wonderful mental image, eh?

Anyhow, I had actually fixed my hair and applied makeup. I went out to do devotions with the kids when I saw my son laying on the couch. “Mama,” he croaked out. “I have a really bad sore throat and headache.”

Uh oh.

He did manage to pull himself to the table, and we proceeded with devotions. I am using the book Daily Grace for Teens. We also read verses out of the Bible. We’re currently reading Ephesians. I usually take a chapter and divide the number of verses by three. Can I just tell you that some numbers are difficult to divide by three?! Wowsa. We’ve almost gotten into knock-down, drag-out fights over this, which kind of defeats the purpose of doing the devotions in the first place. The kids each get an even number of verses, and I get the extra one or two, if it’s not even all the way around. Anyhow, it’s a sight to see.

So, we got through devotions, and I drove  the daughter to school. Upon arrival back home, less than ten minutes later, son was still on the couch, looking even worse, despite having no temperature. I declared him sick, sent him back to bed, and notified my boss that I wouldn’t be in today.

While son was sleeping, I caught up on my ironing and ran a couple of errands. Gatorade is my mainstay when anyone is sick, so off I trotted to the grocery store. While there, I returned a bag of groceries I had purchased yesterday (I actually purchased many bags…this was just one of them). I need to go grocery shopping more often so I’m familiar with what we actually have in our house and don’t wind up with six ketchup bottles.

Grrr…

Off to Home Depot to buy an air filter, which I suspect is the culprit for the sore throat. I’ve been very diligent about replacing the air filter every two months, but since we recently turned on our air conditioner (I love living in Florida!), I think that the air sucked up all of the icky stuff in the house. I also scheduled my son to go into the doctor to get his throat swabbed out. He is not happy, but a mama’s got to do what a mama’s got to do.

So now, it’s really quiet. I’m torn. Do I read, or do I knit? Part of me wants to return the books I checked out last week, but then I read a few pages, and I’m drawn, once again, to the heroine of the book.

In case you didn’t read one of my previous blog entries, I’ll catch you up. I’m currently reading the Mark of the Lion series, written by Francine Rivers. The setting is ancient Rome, during the days of gladiators. It details the struggles of a young girl, Hadassah, a Christian who becomes a slave in a Roman home.  The reader also learns much about how terribly Jews and Christians were persecuted after the resurrection of Jesus.

Hadassah is so humble. Everyone around her recognizes that there is something different about her. Even though I read these books several years ago, I’m still polarized by the portrait painted.  You see Hadassah in her quiet strength and self-doubts — thing that are still relevant in each of us today.  Hadassah possesses a simple, blind faith in God’s provision, despite the circumstances. She understands that God created us to serve others. The purpose of our lives is not the pursuit of our own happiness. That goes so contrary to what the world teaches these days.

So, with this unexpected gift of a quiet day, I think I’ll continue to read (despite wanting desperately to work on my second Monkey sock). God has much work to do in my life. Perhaps these books will be one of the tools He uses.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Daily Grace for Teens, Francine Rivers, Knitting, Mark of the Lion |