Imperfect Progress

Week 2 of reading Lysa Terkeurst's book and she couldn't be describing my life anymore if she was sitting right in my living room.  As I'm working through the Participant's guide, I'm looking at ways that I become Unglued.  I become unglued on a daily basis.  Take today, for instance.

I had clinical, and that went relatively well.  Basically, I have 9 students who each have a patient each and I run around like a chicken with my head cut off to take care of those 9 patients.  At the end of the day, they've all done their assessments, some of them have gotten to give medication, and we've discussed their patients and what clinical homework they'll be doing.  It's hands on learning, which most students learn.  It's also emotionally exhausting for me, sometimes.  Most of the time I love getting to interact with the patients, and seeing that lightbulb moment for the students makes it all worth it, but when I get home from clinical, I'm usually ready to kick my shoes off and relax.

Pouring rain today, meaning I get to slosh up the hill to Jackson City to get Caleb.  We have to make some copies at the college, and it takes 15 minutes to get him out of Kena's office.  (He loves them.  They love him...but he does make work counter-productive).  Stop at McDonalds, where you can NEVER get back out onto Hwy 15 (seriously, why do we not have a light here?)  Stop at Aunt Lisa G.'s house to drop some stuff off.  We end up getting home 5 minutes before Wallace, who has had volleyball practice.  When life is all about run, run, run, there are bound to be some Unglued moments...

Caleb is eating my french fries. If you know anything about the Bates family, you know that one of mine and Wallace's worst fights when we got married were over salty Mcdonalds french fries.  Can't you just taste them? Let me just say that in that one, I was wrong.  I'll not admit it to him...

Anyway, as Caleb is eating my french fries and I am saddled down with his bookbag weighing 500 lbs, my purse, my clinical bag, my laptop in a case, and another bag, he is trying to get the keys out of the door.  He's pulling and tugging and twisting and comes pert near pulling the doorknob off the door.  Unglued moment #1-  "Caleb, why are you doing that?  Don't you know that you can tear up the door? Geez" in a much louder voice (maybe I should be typing in all caps).

So we sit down to eat.  Work through some homework. Then comes the dreaded math. Can I just say that I don't like math?  I don't know how to teach it, I get impatient, and it gives me a headache.  Nor does Caleb like it.  So our conversation goes something like this. "Fine, just quit.  I'm tired of fighting with you.  You should have been done with this twenty minutes ago." says the Mom in the dictatorship voice. "Really?  I can just quit?" "NO!  Now why are you still complaining?" And so on and so on... to protect the Mom who suddenly turned into the wicked witch of the west, I'll not go into anymore of the conversation.  Let's just say that 1 hour and 35 minutes and a few tears later, I was ready for bed and Caleb was ready to kill me. 

And then I remembered Unglued.  Caleb said something like, "Shut up, Mom", though he really didn't mean it rudely (by this time I had almost gotten myself stuck in a school desk and we had had some good laughs to get the evilness out of our system).  It reminded me of a story Lysa tells in the video about her daughter honking her car horn at her, and how you "Never,ever honk at your Mama."  So I pulled up the video and me and Caleb watched it together, again.  And I apologized for the big ol' mess his Mama is sometimes. 

First, he said I definitely needed to read the book.  Then, he told his Daddy that you could never, ever honk at your Mama.  Then he wrapped his arms around my neck and gave me a big ol' hug. 

I may not be perfect, but I'm making imperfect progress.  What I hope Caleb gains from this is the realization that no human is perfect, especially his Mama.  There is a great big God that is, though, and He's working in us and through us every day.  Even when we come Unglued... especially when we come unglued.  He's not finished with us, yet, and he can make the broken beautiful. 

"I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."- Philippians 1:3-6

Oh, baby boy, God's not finished working on your Mama yet. And He's got big plans for you. Love you way big!