Many hands make light work...sort of

Last night, I got all the girls to help me do a thorough cleaning of the van before our trip.  Hannah and I took out the seats (I can't believe she is big enough to help with things like that), and we proceeded to vacuum, then spray and wipe all surfaces of our van.  Since we have a twelve-passenger van and it has a completely vinyl interior, that was quite a big job.  The spraying was definitely more popular than the wiping.  Since I had only two spray bottles of cleaner, there was much fighting and whining about who would get to do the spraying, but in the end, we got it done.  It was in the mid-eighties with insanely high humidity, so we were all disgustingly soaked with sweat when we were done, but popsicles all around cheered up the kids.

Today the older girls (grudgingly and with many piteous looks at my behavior) helped clean up the main rooms in our house so they won't be totally trashed when we get home from our vacation.  They also packed their clothes and neatened up their rooms.

They didn't do it cheerfully, but it's done and I am much more relaxed sitting in a clean(ish) house.  As the girls get older, I am sometimes impressed by the amount we get done when we all work together.  In fact, I almost enjoy the work more despite the bickering and eye-rolling because we're doing it as a family.  I'm looking forward to the kids being able to do even more with less supervision, when it might actually be easier to have them help than to do things myself.

It also makes me think about how big an impact our family could have on this world.  We have six kids.   Who knows what they will grow up to do?  I assume that they will have families, and I look forward to meeting their children, and watching our family grow and impact even more people.  I may never do anything significant by worldly standards, but raising these children to know God and to follow Him will have an impact that will grow exponentially because of the sheer numbers!

So as I work to shower everyone again, tuck them in again, clean up the dishes again, and know I have all those same things to look forward to tomorrow, I choose to believe that these things are not worthless and insignificant.  They are exactly what I am supposed to be doing right now.  They are my part of changing the world.

You make everything glorious

I love the song that sings to God "You make everything glorious, and I am yours, so what does that make me?"  We are created to be beautiful, glorious, enchanting creatures, but we're stuck in this sinful, crazy world that makes it easy to forget that truth.

I want to look for those beautiful things in my every crazy day.  I want to share the things that make me smile or laugh out loud or well up with tears of joy.  You'll hear about my kids -- five amazing daughters and one sweet baby boy.  After 12 years of marriage, I'm crazy about my husband, even when we're driving each other crazy.

We've recently moved into the house I think we'll be in forever, and I'm slowly working to make it beautiful and perfect for us.  I'm enjoying exercising my creativity to make the most of what we have, and I'll enjoy showing it off a little.  One great thing is that our house is across the back yards from my parents, and my husband is even happy about that (most days).

It's going to be a journey of choosing each day to focus on those things that are glorious and beautiful.  That choice will shape my attitude toward my husband, my children, my (sometimes crazy) schedule, and my house.  I will choose to rejoice and be glad in this day.