Armed with a robe and a feed bucket

Today is my 27th birthday. It is also my beautiful niece's 6 month birthday on this earth too. Thus, the reason for a cute picture of her at the top of this post. I figured people would be more inclined to read this with an adorable baby girl at the beginning of it.

What a JOY she is. You can see more of Ava HERE! I had the opportunity to snap some pictures of Ava when she came to visit us in Brenham this passed weekend.

I have already lost track of how old I am. That is bad. Not that it bothers me in the least getting older, but I just forget the actual number. I'm also blessed to have a husband who happens to LOVE gray hair too, so I think I'm good to go with the aging process. Bring it on!

I guess since we are surrounded by college kiddos living in a college area, I still feel like I'm their age for some reason. But, the reality is I'm almost 10 years older than some of the college freshman. Wow!

I didn't have the "normal" progression of high school, college, career, marriage, then kiddos. Mine went more like high school, college for 6 long months, marriage, mommy. I got married at 19 and had Kaylyn at 23.

Today started off really rough for me. I stayed up late baking a cake (sounds domestic, doesn't it?) for Jason to take to work. I didn't get in the bed until 1:30 am. That is not a good thing for me. I am one of those people who actually do need 8 hours of sleep.

Lately, I've been consistent in waking up at 6:30 in order to spend time with the Lord, plan my day, get adequate caffeine, and ready. This has made the biggest impact on how my days have played out. My heart towards serving my family, loving my family, and discipling my girls has been a heart that started off the day focusing on the Lord. You can read more about the impact of having a quiet time in the morning HERE. There, you will find insight from several wise women on spending time with the Lord.

All of this is to say, I didn't do this this morning. I slept in and Kaylyn was my alarm clock. She woke me up to the tune of "Mommy, can you please get me some juice?".

It is a lovely song to wake up to.

Have you heard it?

When I looked at my clock and it said 8:30, I knew this was not a good thing. Holy Cow!

To save you from this post being ridiculously long, we are going to bullet-point format for sake of time to convey to you lovely people all of the things that went wrong today.

• I woke up extremely late which then didn't allow for any time with the Lord.
• Laney Rae threw up 3 times in the course of an hour.
  
• ALL 6 of our pigs got loose and headed for the highway. I chased them down in my bathrobe, hair in a towel, rubber boots, and feed bucket. Not a good moment for me.
• I had some not-so-good moments with the toilet myself. Sorry! That is just the reality of letting stress get to you.
• I went to move our heard of cows and the heavens opened up and it began to rain hard.
• I had to cancel my Olive Garden lunch with my girlfriends because of incidents mentioned in the above bullets. Sniff, sniff!
  

I went into battle this morning, with a robe on and a feed bucket in my hand instead of my breastplate of righteousness and my shield of faith (see Ephesians 6). This was my 'day of evil' that is described in Ephesians 6. And I wasn't ready for it.

It is easy to battle the 'days of good times'. But, how we deal with the 'days of evil' are crucial to our growth as believers.

Instead of wallowing in this day of awfulness, I am choosing to laugh at the previous incidents and see the things that came out in my attitude that I did NOT like nor did they honor the Lord and let the Him change me. So, that when the next 'day of evil' comes, and it will come indeed, I'm fully prepared.

I learned a valuable lesson today. I sat in bed using the excuse of,"Lord, I don't need to spend time with you this morning because I was up so late being a good wife and it IS my birthday after all." The moment that I made the decision, I had no idea what the future had in store for me today. I am reminded of an incredible verse/s that pertains to this very thing.

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Ephesians 5:15-17

How foolish I was! I know what the Lord's will is.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I was none of these. I only wanted to sit in the middle of the pasture and cry.

I crave and desire that time with him in the morning even more so now. I need it! I know after the events of today, that I DESPERATELY need it. Every single day. No matter what day it is. I don't know what is in store for me or my family that day. I need to be prepared with my armor fully on.

Thank you Lord for my special birthday gift from you........the knowledge of my complete dependence on You and your Word! If nothing else, today I'm thankful that I'm yours and you have placed me here on this earth for such a time as this. Help me to make the most of every opportunity you give me.