{"id":1757,"date":"2013-11-01T16:21:11","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T20:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oshetablogs.wordpress.com\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2013-11-01T16:21:11","modified_gmt":"2013-11-01T20:21:11","slug":"gracious-expectations-for-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shalominthecity\/2013\/11\/gracious-expectations-for-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"Gracious Expectations For Myself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Hey Peeps.\u00a0 It\u2019s Friday.\u00a0 Normally I\u2019d write a quippy little intro to FMF<\/a>. But seriously.\u00a0 I have not time or space for such niceties.\u00a0 But I will tell you this\u2026FMF, rocks.\u00a0 Take five minutes, write out your best meditation on grace, share it with the community.\u00a0 Maybe by the end, you\u2019ll feel a little better, more thankful, and grace-full.\u00a0 Like me.\u00a0 Kind of.\u00a0 Well\u2026I\u2019m getting there.<\/p>\n

I had so much to get done today: a blog post up on the \u201cJesus Feminist\u201d by Sarah Bessy, laundry for five people to wash, dry, and folded at the laundromat,<\/em> meet with a friend to pray, wash the dishes I\u2019ve been putting off, go grocery shopping, sort the kids Halloween candy and so much more. Oh let\u2019s not forget the birthday party I need to figure out a plan B because it\u2019s suppose to be wet tomorrow. And tonight\u2026oh my goodness tonight I\u2019m going to see Gungor so I need to shower and get pretty for that.\u00a0 But there\u2019s an emergency hot water shut-off, and it\u2019s rainy.\u00a0 So, everything\u2019s going slower, taking longer, needing to be put off, and I\u2019m agitated.\u00a0 I\u2019m snapping at kids, pacing angrily, click clacking away at my computer with just A BIT TOO MUCH FORCE, and I just. want. to. scream.<\/p>\n

Where did my perfect day go?\u00a0 The day where I woke up, sent the kiddos off, spent the morning laundering, the mid-morning gliding through the frozen section and lovingly choosing produce, the lunchtime prayer meeting where we sing, \u201cKumbaya\u201d, the kids who come home ready to help clean house, the steaming hot shower and the \u201cahhhhhhh\u201d of finally feeling pretty and ready to paint the town red?<\/p>\n

Yeah\u2026that\u2019s not going to happen.\u00a0 And I have two options: I can continue stomping around here like Momzilla on crack OR I can stretch my arms up to God and say, \u201cLord, I need grace.\u201d I need grace from my readers that on Monday, that interview by Sarah Bessey will be up.\u00a0 Grace from my kids who are so sweet and don\u2019t deserve Momzilla.\u00a0 Gracious heart towards maintenance that they\u2019re only doing their job, shutting off the water to fix a problem that\u2019s probably going to keep our complex healthy and safe. \u00a0 Gracious expectations<\/a> towards myself, that I\u2019m human, I misjudge time, I don\u2019t plan for weather and I forget to eat lunch (which contributes to overall Momzilla-ness).\u00a0 Lord, I accept your grace and I extend grace to myself.\u00a0 Because tonight\u2026I\u2019m going to see Gungor and I don\u2019t want to enter into that wonderful space all grubby, and grouchy, and grace deficient.<\/p>\n

STOP<\/p>\n