(Warning! This post is for those with a sense of humor)

When I am invited to speak sometimes, my topic usually will touch on the issue of control, and how very little we have of it. I have always been a strong, type A, red personality with a touch of blue, so my sons call me purple. I have so much more peace when everything around me is somewhat organized, and the red in me tends to delegate and organize others. But it never seems to go as planned. Since I married and subsequently had active boys, life has been full of surprises and unscripted, happen-stance that somehow evolves into life. All the world is a play. I am onstage. The lights are on, and I am the only one who knows the lines. Everyone else is acting out a different play. Ever had that dream?

So I find myself saying things I never thought I would say, doing things I never planned to do, and realizing that I do not have control, and God is constantly trying to teach me lessons here, to let go, trust Him, and enjoy the ride. “Be still..and know that I am God.”

I love to share with ladies, that although we do not always know the outcome, God has magnificent plans  for all of us, and remind them of their significance in every individual, unexpected, moment of thier lives.

Sometimes it is obvious. I know that God was holding us in His arms when I spent my first eight years as a mother with a frail and beautiful boy with special needs and a never-ending smile. I even felt God with me on the moment Joshua died in my arms in our van. I had no doubt. I feel His presence in so many little things in my day.

I know God blessed me with little pictures of His grace when I have had an exhausting day, and then I snuggle with my sons and they want to hear “Little Town on the Prairie” as we talk about the tough lessons of Pioneer living.

I know God is merciful, when I have had an emotional night whining to my husband (or even just whining to God) about my needs that are not being met. me-me-me. Then I wake up to my husband bringing me his wonderful vanilla cappucino in bed. He is speaking to me in the language that he knows, and always ready to start a new fresh day.

But most of the other little unexplainable,  instances in my life have been thrown in a bucket called patience. I feel sure that most of the unorganized, impulsive, and downright frustrating things that happen to me as mom are also part of God’s plan as well, and mostly to help me grow in patience, as we press on raising Godly, responsible young men.

For instance – Our dog loves to eat dirty laundry. i thought he had outgrown this habit, and am now wondering if it is related to his allergies, and needing meds. I just noticed him in the backyard this weekend walking in a sort-of squat, all over the yard. When I saw him walk/squatting back toward the house, I called Gibb-12 and said,”

Please come here! I need you to come help me pull something out of Cody.”

Then I thought, “I cannot believe I just said that.”

It was strands of fabric, which we discovered later was a new pair of Bear’s underwear. But I hopefully will not have to say that again for awhile.

I thought of some other little lines that have been part of my daily script:(notice most end with an exclamation. I am still working on soft-spoken-ness)

Get down off that roof right now!  and bring your brother!

Do you need a tissue for that?

You have to wear underwear with the school uniform!

Take all the lizards back outside!

HOW did you staple your fingers together?

Okay, go hose each other down before you come in. ..and hose down the sides of the house too.

We do NOT karate punch the sheet-rock!

where are your shoes? we just drove all the way to NC, where are your shoes?

Do you need a tissue for that?

No more body-noises at the table!

Here-on-out, all urinating WILL be done IN the house, in a bathroom!!!

My boys are NOT going to look for alligators! (when we had a boat)..(and my husband took them anyway)

go back and put on underwear for church.

Dig your brother up right now, and fill the hole!

Bear, you cannot just PUT McCain signs in other people’s yards!

Why are apple cores under your bed?

Do you need a tissue for that?

Where are your shoes?

No more drawing on the walls! (my mother is laughing at this one!)

We do not use a leaf blower to dust the house!

Why are you sticking tweezers up his nose? (My husband found a raisin, swollen to a grape size.) (Bear was a toddler.)

I am sure all of these times are small threads in the elaborate fabrics of God’s magnificent plan for us. One day I will see the bigger picture.

In the meantime, I am being called back to the stage.

And there is no dress rehearsal.

Jeremiah 29:11″For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”