I have not left the house since Monday (on which I took a feverish baby to the doctor to discover he has an ear infection). I did go outside yesterday when it was not raining.
Anyway, I was climbing the steps after a squeezed in laundry switch, thinking about how I have way to much to do these days, and how the house is a mess (by my standards), and how I am somehow keeping my cool (though impatience still reigns strong internally), when St. Therese of Lisiuex’s beautiful words came into my head, Everything is a grace. And I realized, it is all Grace, everything I struggle with, the breaking down of all my ideas of how my house should be run is really a grace.
And it is sooo hard for me to let go of the cleaning things. It is an internal stripping of my attachment to order. I hate to let go. But I have no choice. If I don’t let go, my child’s education suffers. My vocation suffers.
So, I looked up the full quotation of St. Therese, and realized, my understanding of everything as grace was the same as hers:
Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father’s love—difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul’s miseries, her burdens, her needs – everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness – Everything is a grace because everything is God’s gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events—to the heart that loves, all is well.
Ever since we started school, I am feeling myself being stripped away. It may sound dramatic, but it is life-changing for me.
And it will be so good for the kids once I get past all of my letting go. Instead of me cleaning half my mornings and sending them off to play, I am spending hours every morning WITH them. I am teaching them, talking to them, trying to be patient. And it is all a GRACE.
And the baby wakes needing to be nursed AGAIN to sleep as I try to finish my blog writing and finally get to the kitchen, and it is another surrender. It is a grace. I am being stripped.
Everything is a grace because everthing is God’s gift.
Thank you Susanna for this article. I needed to hear this from somebody and who better than another mom, pretty much in the exact same shoes as me. Sometimes I feel alone in my thoughts and feelings with the overwhelming task of a new baby and homeschooling several children, but then you write this and I am reminded of the wonderful Grace we are given in the gift of each other. I want to encourage you in your writing and thank you for being such a great example of a mother striving to be holy.
Just found your blog through Blessed is She! I love this and today's devotion, bc I share similar struggles. Definitely bookmarking your blog!
So glad you found it! Today I took a walk with the kids instead of cleaning… I think it was the right choice. 🙂
Thanks, Lynn! I am praying for you! Hopefully, we can see you all in January!