When Life Feels Like a Big Mess

This is a true story straight from my family’s crazy life. It is a few years old, but when I came across it today; it spoke straight to my heart once more. I decided to share it just as I wrote it then:

Through a messy situation yesterday, God spoke straight to my soul. This story is about a 3-year-old and poop. Yep, poop! So, if you can’t handle poop stories, feel free to scroll on now but if you can, read on. You will laugh, but hopefully you will receive the message through the mess.

Potty training hasn’t come easy for our youngest one, which means the process has been trying for mom and dad also. We were at the mall when she says she has to potty. Ok, no problem. I take her while dad and big sister go to the next store.

Somehow, I do not realize she has already pooped (I warned you) as I am helping her onto the toilet. Let’s just say we had a mess!! Now, let me insert this. Said 3-year-old cannot stand ANYTHING on her that is not supposed to be there. A stray piece of hair can attach itself to her fingers and she will start screaming.

So, here we are in a public bathroom stall. We are in a MESS! She is having a fit. She does not know what to do. This is not a simple fix. Her voice is frantic. Mine is this calm I can’t explain because I am telling you that it was not a pretty situation.

The conversation went something like this:

Miracle 2: Mama, it’s a mess!! It’s a mess!!

Me: I know sweetheart. It is, but I am going to take care of it.

Miracle 2: Mama, please fix it! Get it off!

Me: Sweet girl, look at mama’s eyes. Do you trust me?

Miracle 2: Yeah

Me: Ok, then trust that I know what I am doing. I am going to fix this. You’ve got to sit still and let Mama take care of the mess. I know what I am doing.

Miracle 2: Ok, but it’s a BIG MESS!

Me: Yes, it is but I can, and I will fix it.

As I am talking to her, I’m telling you right in the middle of our big mess I felt like God was showing me that’s how we can be. We have this huge mess (life situations) that is really bad. We don’t know how to fix it on our own. We ask God to help us, but then we keep telling him how big our mess is.

He KNOWS.

He CARES.

He just needs us to TRUST that HE KNOWS what He is doing.

Sometimes that requires us to sit still and wait patiently. He will get us through those situations that seem hopeless.

We just have to trust.

Just Do It

Welcome to the first blog post for Family Fire Life. I am excited to begin this journey and see where it leads. While several blog post ideas have been running through my mind, I’ve had a hard time deciding on an initial post. I decided that I should talk with my crew (aka my little family) to see what their thoughts might be.

A few nights ago, like many nights when my husband is not on shift, we were all laying around in the living room. Miracle 2, who is four, was climbing all over her daddy who was laying on the floor taking it like a champ. Miracle 1, who is eleven, was lying next to them. Most likely, she had also been a culprit to the climbing all over daddy episode. I think it is their favorite thing to do when he is anywhere nearby. Ok, ok…back to the story. I was close to them on the couch. I told them that a new blog owner would like to interview our family. This blog owner would like to ask them how we make Fire Life work for our family. Of course, they knew I was referring to myself and didn’t mind letting me know that this new blog owner needed to get busy making some posts to said blog. Once the jokes ended, my sweet Miracle 1 answered my question with four powerful words: We Just Do It!

Yes, we do!

That does not mean life is always peachy. In southern slang, that means things aren’t always just wonderful and without frustration. We still find ourselves making adjustments to make this work for our family. I would confidently say that Miracle 1 has been most affected by the adjustments of becoming a Fire Family. She was six when her daddy became a fire fighter. This is the same little girl who fell asleep countless nights on her daddy’s chest. The same little girl who snuggled up next to him to watch Disney classics because he is such a good sport. The same little girl who can still recall the day her daddy jumped the softball fence to rescue her when she sprained her ankle playing ball. Her hero. Now, every third day she has to share her hero with an entire community.

The situation is a little different for Miracle 2. She has only known life as a Fire Family. We often joke that she is happy when it is the 3^rd day (daddy on shift) because that means she gets to sleep in the bed with her momma and sister. All joking aside, there are days that I lose count of how many times her sweet, four-year old voice tells me she misses her daddy. She definitely understands that he is not present that day; however this schedule is all she has known.

So, how do we just do it as Miracle 1 said? Some days pushing through those 24-hour shifts holding onto the fact that 48 hours await us on the other side is a task. Other times it truly isn’t so bad. Like anything in life, we know there are pros and cons. Mr. Handsome’s schedule may require him to miss some important events like recently when he had to miss Honor’s Day for our oldest. Yet, other times it allows him to be at school events during the day like Field Day, which wouldn’t be possible if he had a traditional work schedule.

For us, it is all about being present when you can be. By present, I don’t mean every activity that is on the calendar. I mean in the here and now. Taking time to put down the phones, turn off the TV, and take it like a champ when God’s miracles want to climb all over you, talk to you about a dozen things all at once, or just snuggle up next to you and watch the next Disney classic. That’s a little of how we just do it in our life.

And isn’t that how it really is with all of life? It throws us curveballs or strikes us out more than we care to admit; but we have to get back up. We have to try and try again until we figure out what works for us—for our family. What works for my crew may not work for you and yours but when we allow ourselves to be transparent and toss out our preconceived notions of others; hopefully, we will find that each of us has a wealth of information waiting to be shared with others who are on the same journey of learning life together.