It's the Little Prayers

I am a huge believer in prayer. Not just big prayers, but also the little prayers. The prayers you whisper in the back of your head because you don't think God should be concerning himself with such minor requests as, "Please help me find time to finish the laundry today." I had a discouraging day yesterday but went to bed with a tomorrow-is-a-new-day attitude. I just know God hears the tired prayers of a housewife and answers them. He brought me rest. Joshua slept through the night giving me 8 hours straight of sleep, unheard of. My daughter started off the morning asking for her cartoons, but we turned on some Jesus music instead while we were making breakfast. She played with her baby brother while I cleaned up the kitchen from the night before (yuck) and made pancakes. It was a nice change from Dora the Explorer and her stupid, "SWIPEY NO SWIPING!" I noticed her behavior improved with no TV to distract her. They stayed entertained for a while as I worked on chores and took breaks to play. We went into town for a bit and ran errands. The kids did fantastic which is always a blessing. We got home, ate a quick lunch, then the kids went down for naps. Instead of being tired I was motivated and used every minute of nap time to work on the house. Just call me the laundry slayer. I cleaned out my closet and boxed up the rest of my winter and pregnancy clothes. I got dinner going, picked up around the house ... ok I don't need to list exactly what I got done, but unbelievably it was everything I had on my list to do for the week! That leaves me free to do grocery shopping tomorrow and just enjoy spending time with the kids. I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was a big deal to me this week. I had an overwhelming to do list and no time to do it. I wasn't getting any support or encouragement from my husband, just judgmental looks at the condition of the house when he got home from work. I was discouraged and prayed for strength and grace to get things together on the home front and it happened. You may not be able to identify with my life, but I challenge you to have faith in the little things. Those stressful moments that overwhelm you but are simple enough that you don't think to ask God for help? Call out to Jesus my friend because he cares. He cares that you want to do good on that test but don't have the motivation to study. He cares that you want to lose that baby weight but are too discouraged to even know where to start. He cares that you and your husband aren't getting along today. He cares that you are tired from waking up every 3 hours through the night to breastfeed your newborn. He cares that you are frustrated your hyper-active 2 year old won't take a nap so you can have a break. All you got to do is ask.