The Longest first week of school E V E R . . . .

I'm tired. . . . really tired. But in my tiredness, I feel content. We had a rollercoaster week that felt like three weeks crammed into one. I've had a myriad of emotions, from excitement to being completely overwhelmed, to utter frustration, to peace, joy, exhaustion, awe, and humility, to feeling greatly privileged to be part of my children's education in this way. I have had so many thrilling teachable moments that it's hard to believe it's only been one week!
Today was a very tender moment with Asher. We read about Cain and Able. As we were reviewing Creation, the fall, and then Cain and Able, I saw a heaviness come over him. I thought maybe he wasn't feeling well.
"Asher, are you feeling ok?' He nods his head.
"Are you tired?" He shakes his head no.
"Are you sad? The tears well up in his little eyes. And his tender heart spills out, "I'm so sad that the snaked tricked Adam and Eve and I'm so, so sad that Able got dead and Cain was evil."
Oh wow. So now I'm holding him and just praying. Praying for the Holy Spirit to minister to him in this vulnerable, tender moment and praying for the Holy Spirit to give me the right words to speak.
"It is sad. It's very sad. But Asher, that's not the end of the story. Jesus had a plan from the very beginning. That's why he had to come and die, to defeat sin and death and bring people back to the Garden. He wants all of us to be with Him again, to be in that beautiful, perfect place again. And Asher, what does your name mean?"
"Blessed, fortunate, and happy life."
"Do you know that the only way people can have a blessed, fortunate, and happy life is to live in the Presence of God? Do you know that we gave you your name because we believe you are going to live in the Presence of God and help other people find out how to truly have a blessed, fortunate, and happy life even right in the middle of a sad world?"
And so we prayed. We prayed for Jesus to give him joy in the middle of a sad world. We prayed that the Holy Spirit would fill him up and give him abundant life even in a world full of sin and death. And we hugged. . . .for a very long time.

It is a joy and privilege to disciple my children. I mostly love it, but it exhausts me. It's non-stop. I never get to go home and let their parents deal with the rest! This is the hardest ministry I've ever done. Please remember, this was one small moment in the chaos of my entire day!! Please, please remember that my blogs are only snapshots of glory among the mundane things of my life. They are the snapshots, the moments that are propelling me further up and further in. The rest of the day I'm doing dishes, changing diapers, trying to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to fly off the handle at my 7 year old for flying off the back of the couch for the five millionth time this day!! I'm praying you will begin to see the snapshots of glory in your own life that make it all worth it! And then let it take you further up and further in!