Maybe, just maybe, I'm growing up?

Yesterday could have been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It certainly started out that way. I was tired when I woke up. I had far more errands that needed to be done than hours to do them in between nap times. And somehow I was supposed to go to church, too!

Thomas woke up late from his morning nap, leaving us just barely enough time to get to mass. A tantruming child made us very late, and realizing that we had no gas left in the car made us late beyond repair. By the time we got to the freeway, the service was almost over.

So instead we went to the mall to start our errands. Shopping for nursing bras with fussy children in tow is NOT a good idea when you're already on edge. I ended up yelling at Thomas and giving him a spanking that, in retrospect, he didn't deserve. Not my finest parenting moment. In fact it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad moment.

That was when God intervened. I had been reading Brother Lawrence's Practicing the Presence of God in the mornings, and in the midst of everything, I remembered. I'm supposed to talk to God, and when I sin, simply tell him so and that I can't do any better without him.

Oh. Right.

I prayed while I gave the kids a snack, vowed (to myself) that there would be no more yelling, and then discovered a nursing bra that fit. Not only that, there were three available, on sale for buy 2 get a third free. And I had three coupons, all of which the saleslady applied to my order. So instead of hours of frustration and spending a small fortune (which I'd been stressed about), I walked out in about 40 minutes with everything I needed for only $22. (This also meant that I didn't even have to walk in to the other two stores I'd been planning on!)

I'm pretty sure God was intervening there, too.

And then instead of racing off to our next errand, I took the kids over to a fountain and we had our picnic lunch there, and then we went to See's Candy for a treat, and then to the other fountain, and then we went home.

As we got into the car I gave Thomas a hug and apologized for losing my temper with him. I doubt he understood (or even remembered), but it was important just the same. And Jonathan and I had a good talk about asking forgiveness on the way home.

Most of the errands that I had planned to do didn't get done. The one that did, only did so with a hefty dose of God's help. But instead of having a stressed out, angry, awful day, we ended up making some memories and learning about forgiveness.

I think that maybe, just maybe, God is growing me up a little bit.