31 Days of Praise: October 8

Day #8 - I praise God for the messes that my kids create.

Today is my major cleaning day of the week. This is the day that I try to get all of the rooms swept, dusted, straightened up, etc. so that they are nice and clean for the weekend, which is generally when we have people over. While trying to vacuum the rugs this morning with a fussy, teething 1 year old clinging tightly to my leg, I was reminded of something that an elderly lady from church shared with me one day.

I had a particularly rough week this spring with the munchkins and happened to bump into this dear lady from church. She mentioned to me how cute the kids were and I commented a bit negatively on the work it takes to raise 3 children that are 3 and under. She replied with a story about a time when she was a newly saved young mother of 3 small children. She was attending a Bible study with another church lady and commented to the hostess on how immaculate the home was and how she wished she could get her home to stay that clean. The hostess thanked her for the compliment and then very graciously replied that she was never able to have children and would love to have a few to clean up after. She reminded me to be thankful for the messes because it means that I have people in my life for which to care.

Your Turn: What will you choose to praise God for today?