out of the mouths of babes

Moments after arriving home from a long bike-ride/playground outing with the kids, I heard the thing that motivated me to get the kids out of the house in the first place.

fighting.

Bah! They were supposed to be getting their pj's on while I finished tidying up the supper dishes but instead I heard the sounds that somehow have the ability to make my blood boil in an instant:

stop it! do-oon't!

I dried the last dish and counted to 10 (or was it 100?) before I headed up the stairs to see what the problem was....this time.

Turns out, Ethan was arranging his lego star wars characters in preparation for a movie he was planning on shooting the next day (no school!). Abbey was trying to be "helpful" by moving the little guys around and dictating how the scenes would play out (ah, first born!). Oddly enough, Ethan was not thrilled to hear her input.

[Cut to Cassidy, happily looking at books in her room, waiting for evening prayer.]

As we gathered to say bedtime prayers, I tried to reconcile A and E by talking about Ethan's use of the video camera for his movie.

"Maybe Ethan and Abbey could work together on this project tomorrow morning," I said soothingly.

"Maybe tomorrow morning I could be broken-hearted!" Cassidy wailed.

Poor sweetie - she hates to feel left out (and who doesn't?)!

But her precious sentiment brought to mind the many times I have anticipated the way I might feel if this or that happens tomorrow or next week, or if I happen to run into such-and-such person; I agonize over how I might handle a certain situation or I project my insecurities onto others, assuming they will think the worst of me.

Remember the words of Jesus?

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

So familiar and yet it sometimes seems I should have these words embroidered on every pillow in my house.

Perhaps today I can settle for searing them onto my heart.