God's Simple Gifts

Last night I stayed up late way too late! I'm trying to fit in all of my personal goals, and it's taking quite some to finish them. As soon as Aaron gets home:

*We eat
* I run on the treadmill for 30-45 minutes
*Of course, I then have to shower
* A must have-- family scripture reading and prayers
* And now I've decided to add blogging to the list.

I think it was around 12:30 a.m., when I finally went to bed. Now as we all know, from our countless personal experiences, that as soon as a mother lays her head down, and starts to drift to sleep, that is precisely when the baby decides to wake up and wants to be fed. This happened to me last night, only something was different, Abigail would not go back to sleep, in fact it would be something I longed for, but would never attain. Something was wrong with her. She seemed to be in a lot of pain. The only way she would stop crying, was if I stood up with her. She was all tense. She was flailing her arms back, and she was stiff. She screamed at the top off her lungs, for hours, and there were times when we both were crying. At about 5 in the morning, I think I got a couple of hours sleep, only to relive the whole ordeal over. While she was crying, Anderson and Christian kept getting in fights. They were begging for me to make breakfast, and since I haven't had time to go shopping lately, oatmeal was on the menu. I didn't make it fast enough, however, because before I knew it, Anderson had opened the fridge, and had pulled out a yogurt, and had smeared it all over his face and hands, the carpet and the computer desk. He then sat at the table, with a GLASS of water, promptly fell down out of his chair, and somehow managed to knock the glass off the table as well. It shattered into pieces, and at that moment, I believe I shattered on the inside as well! Remember, Abby's still screaming, we're all hungry, and now I'm having Morgan hold Abigail, while I'm sweeping up glass. I think that's when I decided to call the doctor and make and an appointment for her.

Aaron had taken the van to work (our only vehicle), and so I had to ask him to come home, that way I could take her to the doctor. Inside, I was hoping he could tell that I was an emotional wreck, and say, "Hey, do you want me to take off a few hours and go with you to the doctor's appointment?" I even asked him if he could, but he said it was too busy, and that he couldn't.

If you don't know this about me, make note, I DO NOT COPE WELL WITH LITTLE OR NO SLEEP! By this point, I had a pretty good pity party going, and I wanted my husband to rescue me, basically, be my knight in shinning armor. I wasn't sure I could even drive to the doctor's office, without falling asleep. I didn't feel like being mature, and pushing through, I wanted relief.
I even started to pray, that if Aaron could take off, he would feel impressed by the spirit to do so. I guess he really needed to be there, because no such thing happen. I dropped him off, and then proceeded to cry my eyes out (this is what happens to me when I'm very tired, I always cry).

I told Heavenly Father, through prayer that I needed him to help me stay rational and strong! I knew only he could help me pull through the day.

Abigail had a mild temperature of 100 degrees, but everything else looked fine. The doctor suggested Tylenol. My theory is that she's teething.

Abigail slept all the way home, and stayed asleep in her car seat for another 2 hours. I was able to take a nap, and I can't begin to explain, how good sleep felt!

OK, so now your probably wondering why the title for this blog entry is God's Simple Gifts. That's because I believe that the Lord can sometimes show you he loves you, in the simplest ways. Many times I have felt this, especially through nature.

I will share a couple with you:

Many years ago (a few less children ago) our family lived in VA. Both of the experiences that I'm going to share, happened during the same time in our lives. Aaron had lost a good job, and we were going through some challenging times in our marriage. To make ends meet (truthfully, they never really did), we were both enrolled in school full time, with three little kids (I was expecting my 4Th). He was working at Sears as a tire changing guy, and I was a waitress for Cracker Barrel. We never saw each other, and I felt like I hardly saw my kids.

I had a lot of hard days back then, but I remember distinctly this one day, when I went to the side of my house, and there I saw the most beautiful white rose! It was on the scrawniest rose bush ever, but this rose was so full and beautiful! It was as if Heavenly Father placed that rose there for me, and I felt of his love, and it brought tears to my eyes!

At that same house, I was hanging out laundry on our clothes line one day (because our dryer was broken), and I remember, I was struggling inside, searching for answers, when all of a sudden, dragon flies started to fly all around me. It was a sunny day, and I could see a rainbow of colors in their wings, and I felt that this was another gift from Heavenly Father to me, and cried!

Today, I felt that Heavenly Father showed his love for me through a most beautiful sunset! I had left home to pick up Aaron from work, and as I turned the corner to leave our neighborhood, right before my eyes was this (my cell phone camera doesn't do it justice):



Again, I immediately started to cry, because the beauty of it touched me deeply, and I knew at that moment that Heavenly Father loved me. I'm so grateful for all that he does for me, and I appreciate the simple gifts he gives me, which reassures me that he is there, and mindful of my challenges.