Caring people often ask me, "How are you doing?" My frequent reply accompanied by a fake smile is, "Oh, just fine." Truth is,for the past year I have
been overwhelmed, exhausted, stressed and not able to keep up with life's never-ending tasks.
I am not only a neat freak but a clean freak as well. This does not help my current condition. But, I must say that over the past 6 years I have improved much in this area. I can actually go to bed with piles of unfolded, clean laundry in the chair and dirty dishes in the sink.
Last Sunday my former College Sunday School teacher gave me an encouraging word. She mentioned a verse that went something like, "Where there are no oxen, the stall is clean...", and said that it had helped her as a young mom. I have been quoting it over and over again all week long. I have got 3 little oxen of my own constantly messing up our little stall. I guess the alternative would be no oxen and a clean stall. No thank you! After finding this verse in Proverbs 14:4, I realized the verse may have had a bit of a different meaning, but nonetheless God has used it to personally encourage me in this area.
I fondly remember a poem with a watercolor painting of a mommy rocking her baby that would greet me in our entryway everyday.
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'till tomorrow,
For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow,
So, quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep!
I often find myself silently saying this precious little poem that was given to my mom by a friend. I never could have imagined what an impact it would have on my life. And why in the world do I know it by heart???
2 comments:
it's funny the things you remember from your childhood. like for me..catechism's. i remember almost all of them, word for word.
And I am glad you have little oxen dirtying your stall. Life would be sad without them!
Excellent analogy! Trust me...your little oxen will be grown & gone off to their own stalls sooner than you think. Then your stall will be all clean & you will be enjoying fond memories of all the messes they made, funny stuff they said & did, etc. :-)
A clean, empty stall would be so sad! The little oxen will not remember if you had every dish washed or all the clothes folded, but they will remember if Mommy played outside, read books & had fun with them!
Best advice I ever got was from my Dad..."Just take it one day at time"
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