Embrace the Ordinary vol. 27
“…there is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.” St. Josemaria Escriva, Passionately Loving the World
Hello! I hope this weekend is off to a lovely, restful start for you all. Last week there were some new bloggers linking up! How fun! I’m going to try each week to link back to one or two from the previous week to spread the love. Here’s Becca’s post and her sweet babes, and Ann-Marie shared precious moments with her girls. Please do link up with us, and share with your friends! Sharing these ordinary moments and thoughts from the heart really do help us encourage each other as women, wives, and mothers. <3
Soooo…my week has been, as you guessed, INSANE. Monday was technically no school, but I educated my crew anyway. All our insane days and weeks have us falling a bit behind in areas I hate being behind–like math. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for mathematical geniuses, but I do know they need frequent exposure and practice to keep their skills in working order. And I think we all know as adults that math really *is* helpful, as much as we may hate to admit it. My 10-yr old is still unconvinced she needs to know anything beyond her current skill set, but we plug on and keep crunching numbers and concepts. Sometimes I think about my poor Dad, and all he endured when he was checking my math homework and helping me out…Thanks, Dad, you’re a hero. When do you want to tutor your granddaughter? ;)Tuesday and Wednesday rolled along fairly well, I think…and then Thursday hit. Boy, did that 4:55 am wake-up give new perspective and appreciation for functioning pipes, plumbers who are amazing, and neighbors who let us use their bathrooms. All of a sudden, Fence and I woke up in a stupor to hear a loud “shhhhwiiiish” sound, and for a split second I thought one of the kids was up washing hands…but this was louder, more forceful, and definitely NOT just water gushing from a faucet turned on too high. This was a valve that BURST off the toilet hose and pipe connecting to the pipes in the wall. Gallons of water were spraying all over the bathroom.
The plumber came by 9am and was done fixing the problem and turned our water back on by 9:45am. So thankful. I mean…you have no idea. We have kids who use the bathroom all.the.time. To have no use of the toilets right away in the morning? Not so wonderful.
I’m hoping the rest of the valves don’t also burst and send water flying everywhere, but apparently the type of material used is junk (so bad, in fact, our plumber told us there are lawsuits against it) and is prone to this very same issue. We have 4 toilets. You can bet every time we leave the house for a long time we will be shutting off our water to prevent massive flooding and damage.
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That quote is beautiful! I know sometimes I get so caught up that I forget there is so much holy in the ordinary 🙂 Thanks for the reminder Gina!!
I make a point to read it every week when I put up the post, so I can remind myself not to forget!
Ah! So sorry you went through that but thank God it wasn’t that bad! Thank you for the reminder…I think Brian did show me once but I can’t even remember so clearly I need a refresher 🙂 I’ve been meaning to link up one of these weeks and will definitely be trying to asap!
I do hope you link-up! I am nglooki forward to reading your posts when you do!
I love that verse from Psalms. Got to remember that for the trying times 🙂
I read a mediation a long time ago that has stuck with me (from In Conversation w/ God – sorry I always mention it…) about how most of us are not called to severe and unusual mortifications, but that the mortifications we are called to embrace are the opportunities to respond to life’s “glitches,” unplanned for setbacks, and irritations. We can respond with grace or with frustration. Often, it takes a lot of self control to do the former, and that effort and the fact of denying ourselves the gratification of complaining. “spouting off”, etc… is “Every Mom’s” form of mortification. I thought of that when you mentioned the “quirks” in your days. It’s something I need to work on also 🙂
(I’m looking for a math tutor also, so let me know when your dad’s available!)
Isn’t that the truth, the little ways we choose to respond to these truly minor mortifications of every day Mom trials and tribulations! I think it’s my main challenge every single day!
Right?! It is a constant struggle. I try to remember to take a deep breath and pause before I react so I don’t fly off the handle.
I need that book (is it more than one?)
If only my dad would tutor…and travel to do so!
I am so sorry all that happened! Oh my. Ironically, I was an RA in college, and I knew how to shut off the water to the dorm, but I don’t know how to turn it off to our home.
Remember, you can always flush a toilet with a bucket of water. So, you might have an extra bucket of water just in case you are leaving the house and already turned the water off and someone needs to use the facilities.
Good to know!
Bahhhh! So awful! This actually happened in our apartment and the flood gates could not be closed by my feeble attempts. Thankfully we were in an apt and I was able to get maintenance over! Thank! Goodness! Otherwise there would have been two floors below us completely flooded as well. I wish I had tips, but I honestly got nothing except empathy. Thank goodness that round of yuck is over! And that verse! I need to write it down. So encouraging.