Washing Windows in Chocolate Milk....

     I heard the gurgling noises coming from the kitchen (red flag #1)..... heard some laughter (red flag #2)..... heard Tabitha whispering the boys some encouraging cheers (red flag #3).......silence followed by more gurgling noises......(HUGE red flag #4). I entered the kitchen.... this was a 5 alarm situation!
     To my dismay, my boys, David and James had decided to "wash the windows" with the paper towel I had previously given to them to wipe up their mess of chocolate milk they had from their Cocoa Crispies cereal. And they did not just nicely take the paper towel and wipe the windows with a CLEAN paper towel... oh no! That would have been TOO easy! Instead they decided with the aid of their big sister cheering them on, to blow as many bubbled in their cereal as they possibly could, make a mess, wipe said mess with the paper towels and then giggle in glee as they "helped" clean my windows!
     Needless to say, the windows had a nice somewhat foggy frost to them. I took a nice deep breath, looked them sternly in the eye and they knew I meant business. This was beyond yelling at them to clean it up.... this was beyond giving them a paddle for the disaster they created (it wasn't just the windows, it was the table, the floors.... ALL the surroundings!) This situation called for a deep inhale, exhale and a calm response that came out of my mouth with the evil death glare in my eye, "I am leaving the room and counting to 10.... you had better have it cleaned up before I come back in." Needless to say.... they did. They worked like little busy bees  to clear any evidence of their creative cleaning abilities!
     That moment was not a moment I was truly happy with my little ones! It had already been a chaotic and stressful day. So much had overshadowed that day that it was really the most I could handle! See, it wasn't JUST the kids washing the windows in chocolate milk.... it was my garbage disposal getting jammed with a quarter and thinking it would be another year or better before my husband could get around to fixing it.... it was a day of kids arguing about who got the big spoon and who got the blue bowl..... another day where our dog managed to take out a few kids with her huge cone that seems to have become a permanent fixture on her head... but most of all, it was my birthday that was overshadowed with the sadness that my dad was not there but rather he was celebrating in Heaven with our Savior. I missed him a lot, and as lame as it was, I especially missed that yearly birthday call where he sang happy birthday to me so out of tune that it was hilarious! My heart ached for my daddy....
     I have to think, I know there have been so many other times where I have been guilty of getting the situation so off and in the extreme other side of what it really is, because my vision is not clear. I am not seeing things for how they really are, but I am allowing the stress of outside influences play into my decision making process. So the kids washed the windows in chocolate milk.... they are kids. It's JUST chocolate milk.... it washed off and nothing was ruined. Even if something WAS ruined, whats more valueable, them or some material possession? It brings to light just how important it is to really keep focused on whats important and not let the temporary play a role into how we see things but rather let the eternal be our focus on everything!

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Romans 12:2...
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

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