The temperature dropped 10 degrees over the past month and there honestly hasn't been a day in the last month where I haven't wiped snot off of someone.
The thermometer seems to always be in my pocket or close by as I make my rounds checking for fever so I won't send the boys off to school with a temperature. The cough medicine fills up my usually non-cluttered countertops and the Kleenex box is usually empty from little hands grabbing 6 at a time to blow their noses.
The ongoing battle of telling the boys to cover their mouths, wash their hands and stay out of the baby's face, as I feel like I'm drowning in snot myself, is all part of our daily reality right now.
It may sound exhausting and it is, but this is all part of the "nothings" we do all day that when we look back and reflect is really everything.
The extra time for cuddles, the helping hands to fold laundry that actually extends it by an hour, the warm soups that fill the house with a cozy feeling of fall, daylight saving time that if you have children doesn't feel like savings at all.
The sleepless nights that are filled with rocking, watching chests rise and fall, and the NoseFrida Nasal Aspirator that is so important to have with sick infants.
The pacing through the halls as they wheeze in your arms, the thoughts that race through your mind leading you back to more prayers and eventually to thankfulness.
It's easy to miss all these "nothings" that we do so freely every day. Your journey and your nothings that can seem like simple nothings may look completely different from all of this, but I felt like as Thanksgiving is approaching us I wanted to share some of these "nothings" that if we really slow down and reflect on we will see they are everything.
They are the foundation for our families being lived out in our day-to-day. It's ministry seen in different ways. It's motherhood ministry. It is fatherhood ministry. It is all part of our purpose. We are building trust as we are investing our all into our little ones and helping live out and build their foundation steady on the rock, our Heavenly Father.
As I was slowly drowning in snot, exhaustion, kindergarten homework, laundry, diapers and dishes I found myself carrying the weight wrong.
I found myself frustrated with this season and daylight saving time as I was repeatedly reminding myself that I will one day sleep again.
We aren't here to get through the days. We are here for so much more.
So as you, too may find yourself drowning in all the little nothings remember who created you, you are worth it all and be thankful for all the nothing moments that are truly everything.
"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am thankful for you!
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1