Oh friends. Yesterday was tough. My challenge (and that it was) was to seek first to understand. To ask questions and be sure  not to respond to quickly. Can I tell you about it?

1. The boy woke up and announced that his black slacks and orchestra polo shirt need to be laundered. He needed to wear that outfit at 4:30 p.m. that day. I reminded the two orchestra musicians to get their clothes ready the night before, and if that meant washing them, to go ahead and do so. Apparently, he didn’t get the memo. Even though he said, “Okay.”

2. T1 had on a a nice pair of jeans for school . I thought they were really nice, except I don’t remember seeing her wear them before. And as a matter of fact, they looked like my favorite pair of jeans. When I asked her about them, just for clarification, she said, “You gave them to me, don’t you remember?” And then a sly grin and smirk crept across her face.

3. For whatever reason, T2 didn’t finish her dinner the night before last. She woke me up at 2:00 a.m. and asked for something to eat. I sent her back to bed and reminded her that breakfast would be soon. I woke up early the next morning, made sure she had breakfast before school, and she nibbled at it and did not finish. All of that effort…

4. T2’s teacher and I had a big difference of opinion. Huge. I felt she was being unfair and my child had to suffer as a result of it.

I took deep breaths, I asked clarifying questions, and I read and re-read scriptures. Most importantly, I paused. But several hours later I still wanted to pounce. So instead, I cried. And asked God to meet where I was. When I did that, a wave of peace came over me. I still didn’t have the answers, but I no longer needed them. He was there to intervene on my behalf.