Tuesday, November 5, 2013

What I Didn't do Today



Today, I didn't roll out of bed, stumble into the shower and get ready for work while trying to figure out how to get all of the kids fed and properly clothed before sending them into the dark morning to catch the school bus.

Today, I didn't spend 15 minutes at a drive-thru coffee shop waiting for my morning cup of liquid energy just to give me the courage to make my morning commute.

Today, I didn't gossip with the ladies at the front desk or file paperwork for my demanding boss.

Today, I didn't spend my hours at the office feeling guilty that I wasn't home with my children.

Today, I didn't spend my hours at home feeling guilty that I wasn't at the office.

Today, I didn't grab lunch on the run.

Today, I didn't stress about missed deadlines.

Today, I didn't feel overwhelmed and resentful while making dinner for my family.

Today, I didn't eat dinner slouched in front of the television.

Today, I didn't get angry with my husband for asking me to do one more thing.

Today, I didn't go to bed feeling guilty about not spending enough time reading to, talking to or playing with my children.

Today, I didn't have to think of any man other than my husband.

____________________________

Today, I loved my life.

____________________________

Why do I love my life?  Because I have freedom.  I have the freedom to live my life for my family, to serve them, nurture them and care for them.  I have the freedom to create a beautiful home, cook wonderful meals and raise future heads-of-state (or at least heads-of-households).

Today, I got to have tea with my husband before he left for work.

Today, I got to cuddle with my children and make breakfast for them.

Today, I got to study the bible.

Today, I got to teach my children how to read, how to count and how to reason.

Today, I got to grind grain and make bread.

Today, I got to steam a pudding for dessert.

Today, I got to put dinner in the oven early, do the dishes, peel potatoes and create an impossibly cozy home for all of my family to gather at days end.

Today, I got to have tea with my husband when he got home from work.

Today, I got to read to my children, pay the bills and trek in the newly fallen snow.

Today, I got visit with my girlfriend as we watched the snow fall gently to the ground.

Today, I got to pray for my daughter's friend, shaken as she faces life's uncertainties.

Today, I got to stretch my feet before a warm fire and sip hot cocoa in the candlelight.

_____________________________

Today
I have the best job in the world.  
Wife.  Mother. Daughter.  Friend.  
I am blessed beyond measure.

_____________________________

When asked if I am just a stay-at-home mom, I smile.  Yes, I am just a stay-at-home mom.  It is what I was created for - the job description was written in my DNA.  It is my job - and I want no other.

19 comments:

  1. Enola,

    Do you have a sister....

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  2. You have expressed with grace (as usual) a reflection of how truly blessed a woman can be! Thank you for reminding us of our true blessings in life, the joy of creating a haven for our families, serving our husbands and raising children in a loving environment. We often strive too much for things that will matter little a year, a decade or even 20 years later (work, money, possessions). Time spent well with loved ones is never wasted, every day we create memories for our children- thank you for reminding us how important they are!

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  3. Awesome post Enola......! And I would take a wood stove over my forced air anytime.....

    natokadn

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  4. So very lovely...I appreciate you and your choices...I had such days for a few years when my boys were small and am so thankful.

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  5. Beautifully said. I sent it to all the stay at home moms that I know.

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  6. A very gentle "Amen" Such a blessing to live life in the moment.

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  7. Enola,

    Beautifully written, being a Wife. Mother. Daughter. Friend. the best job description one can be blessed with by God.

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  8. What a wonderful post, and I am grateful that my day is and has been like yours!

    Jennifer

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  9. One of the scariest things I ever heard was from a coworker at his retirement party-who said it had all just been a waste of time...if you have a measurable IQ, that's chilling. I think you are blessed.

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  10. Enola,


    (captaincrunch)

    Yesterday, today, last week, last month.

    I surfed everyday that there was surf.

    You know my story. The ocean is where I find peace now. I've been bumping into jellyfish the past week and today a juvenile 'Kemps Ridley sea turtle' (the size of a paper plate) surfaced about one foot away from me on my right side as I was paddling my surfboard out in the rip current next to a jetty (we use rip currents like escalators to carry us out to the bigger waves)

    The sea turtle just checked me out as it was getting air and dove below the surface looking for baitfish to eat.

    I'm turning my back on the world of man and embracing a world created by God where everything makes sense. There is no Obamacare. No threats from Chinease nuke strikes, no tea party, no mainstream Republican progressives. No liberal, progressive homosexual agenda, I can go on and on and on.

    During Trophical Storm Karen, I paddled my surfboard out about 500 yards past the beach in deep water and got some big waves (about 8 to 10 foot) That's big for Gulf of Mexico. Imagine laying down on an ironing board, being shot out of a cannon flat onto a swimming pool, standing up and trying to turn like your on a skateboard.

    That's and idea of what its like.

    I will never have a family. I will always come home to an empty house that I will share with no one, but I will always come home with a 'post surfing andrenaline induced euphoria' with the craving for the next wave I will ride ( I think the oxygen rich air at sea level combined with being immersed in oxygenated sea water adds to the euphoria)

    Everyone's gotta have a reason to exist.

    One other interesting side effect of surfing for three or four days in a row. Your 'equaliberum will adjust to the wave action' and when you lay down in bed at night, your body will feel as if it is 'rocking back and forth constantly'

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  11. That was absolutely beautiful. Thank you.

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  12. Oh. That was beautiful.

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  13. Enola,

    (captaincrunch)


    I just saw the latest headline on Drudgereport. Obama has made a secret deal with Iran to life some sanctions and give up any of their nuclear weapons development equipment that includes special high speed centerfuges that processes highly enriched uranium that in turn can later be easily processed into weapons grade plutonium.

    Iran really feels that they can destroy and win a limited nuclear conflict with Israel. I of course disagree.

    I found this on web this morning also.

    http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/US-institute-Israel-could-survive-nuclear-war

    Yesterday's drudgereport headline was Suadi Arabia was purchasing nuclear weapons from Pakistan. Suadi Arabia fears its Shieite neighbor (the old Sunni' and Sheite Pagan Islamic fued)

    The nuclear lid of off the bottle and the nuclear genie is about to emerge. I believe an attack by Israel on Iran is imminent. The Jews are will not tolerate another genocide by an Islamic 'Hitler.

    On another related note, I have been researching more about the Antichrist with a good friend that's does Christian Bible study in a local jail every week. We talked about evil at length. I used to think that the Antichrist was just one individual but actually the Antichrist may have emerged as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and many others throughout history as a series of ongoing attacks.
    I know I am going way off field here, in fact many of you may think I'm nuts, but now I really think that Barack Obama and many of the people behind him may be influenced by an Antichrist element and may not even know it.
    There are attacks on Christianity going on worldwide and inhuman and immoral acts like killing of children in Belgium that 'have no quality of life' according to doctors and the state.

    I got a friend of mine that weighed a pound and half at birth (born premature) he has cerebral palsy and cant use his legs. He's 23 now, goes to University of Texas at Austin and is working on a history degree so he can be a firearms historian. He also carries a Glock and we go shooting often.
    His gets around fine in a fancy power chair.

    Under the new guidelines in Belguim, he would be murdered by the state socialist doctors as an infant.

    Sorry to go off on a rant there.....

    Look' Enola, I know this post is way, way off topic but this world is coming apart. I grow up under a nuclear threat from the Soviet Empire but I now fear because of truly misguided and heavily influenced leaders (some of which may be truly evil) a nuclear conflict may be inevitable. I also know that I said previously that I 'turn my back on the world of man' I spoke prematurely. I am only a man and I have made and will make mistakes. The only perfect man walked this Earth about 2000 years ago.

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    Replies
    1. Good morning, Captain!

      I meant to post a thank you to Enola, (and I do so thank you, Enola) but I just had to devote my writing to your post.

      I am certain that many have gone before you and I, that were deemed nuts by their fellow man for seeing the big picture and labeling it truthfully as "evil". You do not stand alone in your conclusion. Humans have a tendency to squash those who speak the truth that are outside of the mainstream. Just look at how the Apostles and even the founding fathers were treated and what they suffered.
      We have done what you seem to be doing. We have quit writing our weekly letters of protest to our congress critters, although Wyoming has sent some fine people to DC. Instead we are just trying to live our lives and prepare for the future. We see what is coming. It may not come during our lifetime. We no longer spend our time and emotions trying to convince others. At one time, I typed out a list of "offenses" of just this current administration. I didn't sleep for days. Finally, I printed it and threw it into the fireplace. I can't stop them. I just accepted this is what is happening, and began living life a little fuller, shopping for a new horse, etc. My horse riding does for me, what your surfing does for you, and it's similar in so many ways. I ride the surf in Wyoming, LOL!
      Sorry I couldn't email you, my account was hacked. I write my family using pen and paper now. I am trying to just drop out more and more and live HERE and NOW, because that's really all we have until we all arrive at His house.
      sidetracksusie

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    2. The anti-christ is a system: It's the pope and the roman "church":
      Charles Hodge points out that the spiritual wickedness of the papacy means that it, and no other person or institution, is the Antichrist of scripture:

      The second question is, Whether the antichrist here described is an ecclesiastical of civil power; whether it is to arise in the Church or in the world. The considerations which are in favour of the former of these assumptions are, -

      1. That the designations “man of sin” and “son of perdition” have a religious import, and are more appropriate to an ecclesiastical than to a worldly power or potentate.

      2. Antichrist was to have the seat of his power in the “temple of God.” It is there he sits. This seems clearly to indicate that it is an ecclesiastical usurping, tyrannical, and persecuting power, that is here depicted. By the temple of God in this passage is generally understood the Church which is so often elsewhere called, and especially by Paul, God’s temple. Some, however, suppose that the reference is to the literal temple in Jerusalem; but this supposes, (a.) That the Jews are to be restored to their own land. (b.) That they are to be restored as Jews, or unconverted, and that the temple is to be there rebuilt. (c.) That the Thessalonians knew all this and would understand the Apostle as referring to the temple made with hands; which is to the last degree improbable.

      cont...

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    3. cont..
      3. His coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders. This is not the way in which worldly potentates gain their power; they rely on force. But this is the way, as though traced by the pen of history rather than by the pencil of prophecy, in which the papacy has attained and maintained its fearful ascendancy in the world. Its power has been achieved mainly by fraud, “by the deceivableness of unrighteousness;” by forged documents and false pretences; by claiming that Peter was made primate over the whole Church the vicar or plenipotentiary of Christ on earth; that he was the bishop of Rome; that his successors in that office were his successors in that primacy; and that as the vicar of Christ he was superior to all earthly potentates, nor merely as the spiritual is above the temporal, but as lord of the conscience, authorsized to decide what was right and what was wrong for them to do in all their relations as men and as rulers; which is a claim of absolute dominion. This, however, is a small matter so far as it concerns the things of this world. It was to the mass of the people of little moment whether their absolute sovereign was a bishop or a prince; whether their absolute sovereign was a bishop or a prince; whether he resided at Rome or in Paris, whether his authority extended over one nation or over all nations. It is the false claim of the papacy to have supreme authority over the faith of men, to decide for them what they must believe on the pain of eternal perdition, that is the most fearful power ever assumed by sinful men. […] These pains the pope and his subordinates falsely claim the power to alleviate or remit. These claims have no parallel in the history of the world. If such pretensions as these do not constitute the power which makes them Antichrist, then nothing more remains. Any future antichrist that may arise must be a small affair compared to the papacy.

      Then again, the Apostle tells us, these portentous claims, these unrighteous deceits, were to be supported by “signs and lying wonders.” These have seldom, if ever, been appealed to by worldly powers to support their pretensions. They ever have been and still are among the chief supports of the papacy. There is not a false doctrine which it teaches, or a false assumption which it makes, which is not sustained by “lying wonders.” Its whole history is a history of apparitions of the Virgin Mary or of saints and angels; and of miracles of every possible description from the most stupendous to the most absurd. It has ever acted on the principle “populus vult decipi,” and that it is right to deceive them for their own good, or, the good of the Church. The whole system, so far as it is distinctive, is a system of falsehood, or false pretensions, supported by deceit."

      Charles Hodge, Systematic theology (3 vols, New York, 1872-4), iii, 815-17.

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  14. I was a stay at home mother for 12 years. Then my husband was transferred to a location where the house choices were limited, and we ended up with a much more expensive house with no more space and a much smaller lot. I went back to work teaching school. After two years of substitute teaching I got a full time job at the high school which my daughter was entering. Surprise! She didn't get upset at having me at her school. It was very convenient driving to work and school together. We came home to my cooking dinner while she did homework. My husband got home at dinner time. He and my daughter cleaned the kitchen as I started getting things ready for the next. We didn't watch much TV but spent the evening with talking, reading, and grading papers. Weekends we all pitched in to do chores. We spent a lot of time together. Now that our daughter is living a long way away and has her own family we are glad we spent the time doing things together. She tells people she had a "Norman Rockwell childhood" which to us means the world. Wonderful years with a wonderful daughter and husband. He and I still do chores together and spend our free time reading, talking, and working on our hobbies (leather work for him and needlework for me) together.

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  15. Thank you for the reminder, Enola. You have no idea how much I needed to hear your words.

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