Instead of Sunday School hour, our church body has “breakfast hour”. Each week, a couple of the ladies team up and bring in breakfast. It’s genius really. Especially for those of us who are always running behind and never really have time to feed our kids on Sundays. I’m 100% behind it, except when it’s my Sunday for breakfast, and then I’m just 100% behind schedule! This past Sunday morning, I had my usual plate of food with three small mouths bumming off of me. Let’s face it, mom’s food is always better. So I have my one and a half year old, who has recently learned the word “bite”, standing there yelling it every five seconds. Then my son is sitting in his wheelchair in front of me giving specific instruction on the the size and content of each bite. The five year old is also there, with her own plate mind you, requesting bites of mine. As I’m trying to sneak in my own bite here or there and keep up with everyone, someone says to me, “Renee, you are a good mom.” That statement made more of an impact than I’m sure they ever meant for it to or realized. You see, this past week has been…rough. I guess that’s the best way to describe it. Tuesday, I had an appointment scheduled at 3:40. I had everything planned out. Take Trevor to therapy at one, go pick Luci up from school at three after we get out of therapy, head home, trade off with daddy and go to my appointment. Luci ended up staying home from school Tuesday so after therapy, we went to Taco Bell for happy hour freeze drinks. Then mommy needed a happy hour Salted Caramel Chocolate cookie from Arby’s. We get home and 30 seconds later in pulls my husband. He usually works Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights so that is not what I’m used to, although I do love it. This particular night, because it’s not our normal routine I forgot he was going to be there. (Thank goodness I bought myself two cookies so I could give him one and pretend I didn’t forget). Unload the kids and go about my day. Around six, it suddenly hits me….I forgot my doctor’s appointment! I felt all kinds of stupid. Fast forward a bit to Thursday. I had someone message me that morning about something I was selling on the Facebook marketplace. We discussed a time to meet and agreed on 7:30 that night. That night, I was in the kitchen working on dishes and pick up my phone. Check my messages. I have one that says “I’m here”. It was 7:36 and I’d completely forgotten….for the second time that week! Friday, I get a group text confirming a Bible study on Saturday and that it started at two. I responded saying I thought it was at one. It was then verified it was indeed at two. Saturday rolls around and at 12:30, I’m getting ready to go. As soon as my husband got home from his Lowe’s run, I was running out the door. I knew I was going to be late. I wasn’t going to make it by one. I sent out a text in the group chat that I was running late, only to be told it didn’t start until two.I know, I know. I had JUST been told that the day before. Somehow, my brain took the previous conversation and flopped the times in it. Needless to say, this momma had a mini breakdown as I drove. I called myself stupid. I wondered what in the world could possibly be wrong with me that I could screw up that much in one week. So you see why it was a rough week for me. You can see why something as small as saying, “you’re a good mom”, was such a blessing to my heart. It encouraged me. It helped me remember that I don’t always mess up. It wasn’t a hard thing for that person to make that statement. It was genuine and heartfelt and took five whole seconds of their day. How often do we have opportunities for such encouragement and not take them? How many times have I been too caught up in myself to focus on others? To build someone up? Maybe that person was having a bad week. Maybe they just lost a loved one. Or maybe no one has ever shared God’s love with them. How many opportunities to share Christ’s love have I missed because I’ve been too wrapped up in myself? Whether with a brother or sister in Christ or someone who does not know the Lord personally, how convicting is that thought? Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Those words that morning were golden to me. Have I, have you, given any encouragement today?
Hysteria and Heroics 