Last week I was one twitch away from losing my sanity when, as I was driving to pick Sydney up from school, Brooklyn piped up from behind me, “I need to go potty.” Which triggered something in Jackson and he echoed her plea, “I need to go potty, too!” Even with the destination two minutes away, they ruthlessly insisted that they could not hold it…they needed to go “noooowww”.
After I scrunched up my mouth, producing what can only be called the “Ugly Mommy Face”, I exhaled loudly and began searching for a feasible pit stop. Nothing. We continued driving. The full bladder cries from the backseat intensified. I kept driving, stressed out, darting my eyes here and there searching for a McDonald’s or Burger King…anything. We made it to Sydney’s school parking lot where I parked the car and unloaded my two potty-dancing monkeys in the pouring rain. They laughed, cheered, and thought this was the best adventure they’d ever had. I, on the other hand, wanted to get inside the school building and find a bathroom before an “Oops! Potty-in-the-pants” moment occurred.
When we made it back to the car, empty bladders and happy faces with 30 minutes to spare before Sydney would be let out of school, I sat back in my seat and thought further about this little adventure. Why do I always feel like I’m in a hurry? Why is my life a constant frenzy of panic and worry that I’m going to miss out on something or be late? How is it that my children can turn a potty stop into Disney World bliss?
Here’s why. Children know how to live in a perpetual state of joy. Every little thing in their lives is a reason for celebration. Putting pee-pee in the potty, tying shoes, making beds, dressing themselves, cracking the eggs for the cookies we make, picking up their toys, and watching the neighbor walk his dog are all reasons to get down and shake their booties. I wish I could look at life that way. I wish I could pay my bills with a smile on my face and thanksgiving in my heart that we have the ability to pay them rather than grumble and grunt my way through. Or twirl and sing when I’ve successfully folded a mountain of laundry, cooked a homemade meal, and swept the floors. I think I am sorely deficient in celebrating the little things in life.
In the book, “The Life You’ve Always Wanted”, John Ortberg writes:
“God is the happiest being in the universe. We will not understand God until we understand this about him. God also knows sorrow and grief. But the sorrow of GOD, like the anger of God, is his temporary response to a fallen world. The sorrow will be banished forever from his heart on the day the world is set right. Joy is God’s basic character. Joy is his eternal destiny. And God’s intent was that his creation would mirror his joy.”
I am challenged to stop hurrying my way through life, and take time to stop and enjoy the potty stops. With my children as an example, who are experts at celebrating the little things, I want to grant myself permission to relish in the joys of motherhood, pat myself on the back once in a while for cleaning toilets and cooking dinner, and not allow myself to get bent out of shape when I hear “I need to go potty” from the backseat of the car. Rather, I want to rejoice in the fact that I don’t change diapers anymore (which is cause for celebration for sure). I want to sing in the rain (with a good, sturdy umbrella) and bask in the rays of pure joy.
We have so much to celebrate - too many blessings to count. I want to remember that life is a gift; life is about embracing the good and bad as whole, and remembering the One who holds me tightly in His grasp. I want to be a mirror’s reflection of the One who takes joy in me.
Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song.