Repeat

This was the best weekend we have had in awhile. Do you ever feel like you just achieve that balance, that seamless and ripple-free flow that leaves you craving for more days just like that? If life were a CD player and this weekend were a song, I would have gladly pressed the repeat button. Some days when I know what's coming but would rather not deal with it I would love to press "skip", and other days when things seem mundane I would like to be able to press "shuffle" in hopes of adding a little spontaneity and spark to my day. But as for this weekend, the repeat button would win and it didn't necessarily look like it would turn out that way.

By the time Matt got home from work Friday I was quite disheveled. He made it home just in time to inhale some dinner and change his clothes before we needed to leave for small group. I tend to allow those nights to overwhelm me. I need to be ready, Elyse needs to be ready, dinner needs to be ready and I feel like I need to have a clean house for the sitter (silly I know). So there I go, scurrying around like crazy just to look like I have it together. It isn't just the look though, I genuinely want to have it together. I would like to figure out how to have a better flow for evenings like that and I'm going to work on it. Even if I don't perfect it, I can always change my attitude over the fact that it wasn't all together. However, it was far from together that night.

Matt's hours have been long, very long and it appears the traveling may pick up again too. I could have really used a hand Friday night and although I knew he got home the soonest he could, it wasn't in time to save me from drowning in my own sea of expectations. I try very hard to support Matt and encourage him. His job is a blessing and I know that, but the seemingly endless long hours got the best of me on Friday and with tear-filled eyes I expressed it. I'm glad we talked about it and although things probably won't change right away I feel better just knowing he knows. I try not to that to him. His job is very demanding and clients always seem to want such in such done yesterday even if he just got the information today. It's a career of deadlines, pressure and as a friend would say, "cranky suits". Cranky suits sums it up just about right to me and knowing that he faces those suits all day long I try my hardest not to be the "cranky sweats" at home. Our home is not a place for that. I will not allow it to be a place for that. This needs to be his soft place to land, a place of rest and solace where the worries of corporate demands and cranky suits can be politely left at the door and he is very good at that. He handles the stress, hours and demands beautifully. I admire his ability to separate the two worlds and be 100% present when he is home with us and the last thing he needs is added pressure from me about things that simply cannot be changed right now.

We made it to small group in one piece and later on in the evening I was able to honestly and openly share what had just occurred. I love our group. I love that we feel comfortable enough to do that. To be doing life together vulnerable and open is such a blessing and I'm realizing more and more why God desires us to be in community with one another. Proverbs 27:17 (As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another) becomes so apparent in those situations.

Saturday rolled around and we were both able to go to the gym in the morning which is our favorite way to start the day when possible. Then my mom arrived to watch Elyse while we worked with Hope Builds Homes to help in assembling 4 homes for families in our area who are currently homeless. It was raining pretty heavily and we only carried a little lumber and hammered a few nails but witnessing the whole thing was incredible. We arrived for the afternoon shift to the smell of lumber and the sound of hammers who's mission of constructing a home was being achieved just one nail at a time. Seeing bible verses written in marker on what would become the interior walls of homes for people who likely haven't had much hope lately was inspiring. They may never read the scriptures on those planks but the Word of God will reside in those walls and the prayers that anointed those beams will forever be a part of its construction. There were men, women, children and teens. 543 people came out that day and despite how thin our time can be stretched I'm so glad we went and I hope we can be involved in more things like this in the future.

Despite the rain and because of the large number of volunteers the projects were completed ahead of schedule and since we had a sitter we did a little shopping before coming home. We spent some time with my mom and Elyse before showering and getting dressed for our date night. I hadn't taken a shower without a baby monitor or actual baby in the bathroom in quite some time and I enjoyed the ability to linger in the warm water longer than usual. We were able to buy a $50 gift certificate for $20 at Catch 23 so that's where we ate dinner. It was also where we had our first actual date so any time we make it back there it's a treat. It's amazing how slow we pace our way through dinner when it's just the two of us now. We took our time with the banana bread, followed by the seared ahi tuna appetizer and caesar salads before our main course. I had the macadamia encrusted Sea Bass which was amazing. Before heading home we stopped by a nearby new Irish restaurant/pub to see what it was like and got into bed a little after 11pm. It was a wonderful day with a balance of service, family, food, and time together. Anytime I can get all of that seamlessly mixed into one well-balanced day I am grateful.

I always appreciate the slow pace of Sundays and the calm it allows me to feel before the storm of Monday arrives. After church we went out to lunch and went to the mall after Elyse's nap. I baked some chicken wings which turned out pretty good and we topped off the night with a movie and ice cream on the couch. The added bonus was that Elyse went to bed at 6:45pm last night and didn't get up until after 8am today which gave me 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep. There is no better way to start the week and I'm going to need it because I'm usually quite disheveled again by Friday.

Dishes are done and I'm in the middle of several loads of laundry. Next will be the grocery store and tidying up around the house. Mondays are always chore filled days for me but after a weekend like this one, I don't mind at all.