Just Another Sunday...

It seems like Satan works overtime in me on Sundays, and today this was particularly true. I woke up early after a night of being up several times with horrendous nausea. Great, I thought...I'll get a head start on the day. It will be a nice peaceful Sunday morning, unlike all the others. Yet I still burned the cinnamon rolls, stepped in cat poop, and spent 15 minutes searching for Hannah's other shoe. I went to get dressed only to find out that everything I own made me look fat. Hannah decided that no, she didn't want cinnamon rolls, but white donuts for breakfast. After two bites, she wanted Fruit Loops, and then didn't want breakfast at all. This left me trying to eat my own breakfast while simultaneously trying to put on my own makeup and get Hannah dressed, while everyone around me (who were already dressed, of course) leisurely ate their breakfast. In my mind, I was screaming, "What about me? When do I get to just ignore everything that needs to be done and focus on myself?" and perhaps it wasn't just in my mind. Perhaps a little bit of that escaped the filter and made it out of my mouth. Needless to say, I spent the ride to church apologizing to everyone and trying to get my heart right.

All that to say this...when Satan is at work on me, It is all about me. And Sundays seem to be the time when I most fight this battle. I spent the rest of the ride to church listening to some old hymns on a local radio station and in silent prayer for God to open my ears, my mind, and my heart to what He had to say and show me today. And what a blessing it was. This week was the start of Missions conference at our church and I would have missed some amazing opportunities had I stayed in my self-imposed cocoon of selfishness and self-absorbance.

The first person we say when we walked in was Ms. Janice, a family friend and Hannah's biggest fan. She watches Hannah every Wednesday night and Sunday night at church. She is a polio survivor--thus the wheelchair, and a lung cancer survivor who just earlier this week started her second round of chemo. Yet here she was at church, smiling, and not grumbling about how life wasn't fair. Having to multi-task because I have a lot of children and a house to take care of--just downright childish. And some nausea and fatigue? At least I am creating a life instead of fighting to save my own. Lesson learned, God (again).

Hannah with Mrs. Conkle. Mrs. Conkle was Daryl's kidnergarten teacher, and was Sarah and Maddy's Sunday school teacher from the time we came back to Zion Hill until each was in fifth grade. She led both of them to the Lord, and I am hoping that she sticks it out until Hannah is kindergarten! Mrs. Conkle misses church twice a year, and I have never seen her without a smile on her face.
The children had a Parade of Nations this morning and sang a few songs in different languages. Even though Hannah didn't sing, she did get to dress up and Maddy walked her in. This is Maddy and Hannah before Hannah decided that the stage was not a place for her!

And Maddy, in her Polynesian dress, front and center, singing.

All in all, it was an amazing Sunday, and while it might have seemed from the start that it would be just another Sunday, it most certainly wasn't.