my new job and one without a paycheck... i might add.
of course, i have been working without a paycheck for 15 years. so i am pretty used to not raking in the cashola.
but i might need to find a money tree or a gas tree to support my new job.
which is basically running a taxi service for my three kids who are all involved in lovely worthwhile activities and someone has to take them to the lovely worthwhile activities and that someone is 99.9% of the time named ME.
in fact i have been having this recurring dream at night that i walk out to my driveway and my suburban has been stolen. no kidding, i have had this dream 4 times. and one time it was totally my fault because the keys were still in the car. i don’t know if it is a nightmare because then how would everyone get to where they needed to be? or if it is a dream because then i could just stay home and no one would be able to go anywhere? or if i am just going crazy? all three seem equally plausible.
but here is the big secret....
i actually have come to like my daily travels and travails. maybe it is the frog in the hot water pot and i am about to boil but think it is just a nice sauna.... again, totally plausible.
or maybe because it is the first time in a long time that i have each child one on one for chat time everyday.
everyday i pick millie up from high school and we have 10 minutes and sometimes an errand or a trip to starbucks and i hear ALL about her day without anyone interrupting or her editing content because of siblings. starbucks works wonders to loosen the lips. it is money well spent on teenage girls...
i take maxx and claire (our neighbor) to school in the morning and claire is my biggest fan and will sing ANY song that i make up and teach to her. the “friday song” is our favorite. it is so nice to have a serious fan. i think she likes zac effron just slightly more than she likes me, but i do understand that.
maxx and i travel to and from cross country practice nightly. and i walk while he runs and then we ride home and chat about running and the meaning of life as demonstrated through the game of chess (last night’s actual conversation).
i either take rosie to school (on the days she rides the bus home) or i pick her up (on the days she rides the bus to school) and we have time to go over her spelling words or she reads aloud to me from charlotte’s web or talk about how much she wants a hamster for christmas.
this morning i took millie and her friend (another neighbor), susannah, to school early (like 6:30 early!) to the “see you at the pole” rally. i knew that was today and even though the girls had not heard ANYthing about it at school, they wanted to go.
and we arrived at the flag pole in front of the high school and we were the only people there. our motto was “pray and they will come.” but sometimes a nice motto doesn’t work. no one else came.
we were sitting in the car for a few minutes waiting and i didn’t really want to get out. i had thought that i would just drop them off with a nice group of christian prayers and hopefully a few teachers and then hurry home to wake maxx and rosie for their 8:30 and 9:30 school times... but i knew that millie and susannah needed a little support if they were going to be the only ones there. and so i said, “come on girls, i will see you at the pole” and i got out of the car before anyone could question my sanity and thankfully so did they. and we all walked over to the flagpole together.
so our motto became “where two or more are gathered in My Name, I am there” (matthew 18:20) and we barely made that cut off. but we joined hands and prayed and i think the girls were mostly praying that no one saw them with a mom out by the flagpole holding hands. i kept thinking that maybe as we prayed that some of the students already up on the steps of the school would see us and remember what today was and come and join us... i had visions of opening my eyes at the end of the prayer and having dozens of kids gathered around. but when i opened my eyes, it was me, millie, and susannah. still alone. holding hands. at the flagpole in front of the school. and now there were lots of kids arriving. i am sure that susannah and millie will never forgive me... i can see this going two ways...
one where millie is in therapy one day and telling the story of how her mom made her get out of the car and hold her hand and pray around the flagpole. OR where she is telling someone it was such a pivotal moment where she realized the power of prayer and the faithfulness of a praying parent. or she might forget the whole thing by lunch.
but it was a wonderful moment for me. i almost got choked up with tears thinking about how the battle is never ours and that those who are with us are so much greater than those who are against us. i could almost see the whole army of Heaven right there with the three of us in the darkness before dawn at the flagpole. and the whole army of Heaven talking amongst themselves about how i had not brushed my hair or teeth yet that morning...