The glory of a good day

And the blessed release of a good day shining through all the not so good days.

As the fog lifts for a few oh so brief moments, I take advantage of the momentum and breathe in every last second of it. 

Watching this precious beautiful little girl, cherishing the chance to see her for the amazing gift she is, so full of life, jumping and dancing and spinning.

Taking advantage of a burst of energy to get that one thing done that wasn't on the list, but feeling that little thrill of finally getting to something I've been meaning to do for ages and desperately needed to just be done.

Feeling the hope that maybe Nathan's sleeping habits will change soon, especially after he has a good morning nap that let me make use of the motivation I was actually feeling for once.

Someone's prayers were answered this morning is the only thing I can figure.  I can't pinpoint any other reason for this unexplained brightness.  But I bask in its glow, not sure how long it will last, but so thankful for it nonetheless.

Note: this post was actually written yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to post it at the time.

In search of motivation

It's 7:30 AM, it's finally becoming lighter outside, and I can start to make out the outline of houses across the street and distinguish between where tree ends and sky begins.  The kids have been good and occupied this morning with the new Dora videos we picked up from the library yesterday.  I'm gradually getting motivated to get my butt off my comfy morning chair and get some stuff done today. 

Motivation is hard to come by lately.

The response to my last post was overwhelming to say the least.  I have greatly appreciated all of your kind words of encouragement and offers of help.  I'd like to say that my mood has improved since the writing of that post, and there have certainly been a few better days, but I am weary, and Nathan's sleeping still hasn't gone completely back to what it used to be.  I wish I could say that getting more sleep will help, and maybe it will, but I'm starting to feel like the road back to feeling more like myself again is going to be long and filled with hard work.

It would be great if I felt more motivation to fight back again.

I wish this could be one of those awesome posts where I have all kinds of brilliant ways to find motivation when all you want to do is sit on the couch and surf the Internet or watch TV or read books or do absolutely anything other than feed the kids, dress the kids, and tackle the mountain of laundry that threatens to overwhelm the upstairs hallway and spill down the stairs.  (Okay, my laundry situation isn't quite that bad.)

The only words of advice I have for myself (and maybe you) are this: Do the next thing.  I forget where I read this the first time, probably on some blog or other, and I maybe have even referenced it here before, but there's a poem by a woman named Elisabeth Elliot called "Do the Next Thing" and talks about how we just need to keep our focus on the Lord and do the next thing.  Whatever that next thing might be. 

Today, for me, that next thing is simple: get off the chair.  The next thing after that: go upstairs and get dressed.  The next thing after that -- well, I haven't got that far yet, and that's the point.  After I get dressed, I'll figure out what the next thing is, and I'll do it. 

So here I go.  Off to the next thing...