Taking One Day at a Time

My grandmother offered sage advice every year on the first day of school.  After my brothers and I posed for the annual “first day of school” picture we walked towards our family Suburban and past my grandmother sitting on the front porch.  She would stop us and ask for a kiss before we left.  Then she would look us straight in the eye, usually while holding one of our hands, and say with great sincerity, “I hope you have a wonderful school year.  Remember, do what you are supposed to do each day and you will not get behind.”  It was practical advice, encouraging achievement and hard work.  I found the admonition to be rather odd.  There were so many other things to warn us about – peer pressure, moral integrity.  It strayed from the usual warnings to “mind our manners” and “be sweet.”  But every year, without fail, she counseled us to never get behind in our school work. 

Her advice and my response are prime examples of wisdom wasted on the young.  Only now, in my early 30’s, am I able to appreciate and strive to follow her counsel.  Never in all my years has this advice been more practical than now.  For you see, there are big things going on in the Morlandt house and choosing to bite off one task at a time is saving me from being eaten alive by all there is to do.

First, we are adjusting to Sophia attending school 5 days a week.  She started preschool at one of our local elementary schools.  This is a fantastic program that partners typically developing children with disabled children.  Evening meals now include lively discussions about magic ears (cochlear implants) and strollers have turned into wheelchairs overnight.  What a blessing to be a part of this unique preschool.  Sophia has to be there by 8:20 so leisurely mornings have turned into a highly coordinated dance to get out the door by 7:55. 

 

{First day of Preschool!}

Vincent attends Mother’s Day Out two days a week at a small, local church that reminds me of home. 

{Vincent on his first day of Mother's Day Out}

Packed lunches are a new part of our routine and I can be found each evening standing over a mountain of baggies containing grapes, lunch meat, cheese, pretzels, goldfish, and cups of yogurt.  When I’m finished packing the lunches and placing them in the refrigerator there must be a thorough cleaning of the counters BECAUSE….

Our house is now on the market and I try to leave the house “show ready” each morning.  This means I wake up and make all the beds, pick up clothes, stray toys, and place each dirty dish in dishwasher.  As I work, my grandmother’s words echo in my mind, “Do what you are supposed to do each day and you will never get behind.”  So for the first time in my life I am performing household chores on a daily, routine basis.  2 loads of laundry a day.  Wipe the counters each evening.  All toys put away before the small ones climb into bed.  Sink empty as the sun sets.  Dishwasher humming as I finally crawl beneath the covers.  And when we awake in the morning?  The house is orderly, fresh, and ready for a new day.  Why haven’t I been doing this all along?  Maybe because there is equal truth in the saying, “Cleaning with kids is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.” When small children are involved, keeping house can be quite the discouraging task.

Serenity is found in an orderly home.  Only now that I’m forced to keep my house in order am I reaping the benefit of the daily discipline I was admonished to cultivate by my grandmother all those years ago.  So when I survey all that is set to occur in the next four months including the arrival of baby #3, potential selling of our house, a move to a new city (more on that to come), and the changes that come with both kids in school I attempt to channel my inner “grandmother,” checking one thing off my list each day. 

{Deep cleaning one set of blinds a day....}

I’m broadening my grandmother's wisdom to include limiting my worry each day.  I ration my mind’s wanderings to only those things that need to be decided or done that day.  When I allow my thoughts to encompass all our current “what if’s,” I quickly become overwhelmed and accomplish nothing.  A powerful admonition comes to mind and I cling to it now, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  (Matthew 6:34).  As I type I envision laying my head right there on My Father’s lap, allowing him to smooth back my hair and whisper those words.  And when a lump rises in my throat He’ll turn my chin to meet His eyes.  He’ll lean in and with a gentle smile say, “Sarah, are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And Sarah, even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31).  Trusting Him this day and thanking Him for the wisdom imparted so many years ago to a brace-faced, immature girl by her loving grandmother.  “Remember Sarah, do what you are supposed to do each day and you will not get behind.”  One box a day.  Two lunches each evening.  One set of blinds each morning.  One task at a time and it will all get accomplished.  And for those things completely out of my control, trusting Him each day....