Those Days

For the days when nothing seems to go right.

When you are bone tired the moment you wake and drag yourself through the day.

When the children are arguing and aggravating each other at every turn.

When your two year old takes a swipe at you because she needs you, but doesn't know how to express it in any way other than a tantrum.

When a child has to be told over and over again to stop this and to stop that for the 6,000th time.

I had two of these days this past week. Days I thought would never end. Days I thought I was going to explode. Days where I could do nothing but keep going because that was the only option.

I heard someone a few weeks ago talk about these kind of days in her life. She had observed that "these days" often come on the heels of the really good days.

You know those days too. The ones where everything clicks. The house seems to be in decent shape. The children are kind to each other and you (and vice versa). The days when you feel you've got this mom thing down.

Then bam.

The wise woman also reflected on her thoughts that these awful days are days when she is reminded of her utter dependence on God. That it's these days that teach her that she is not in CONTROL.

There it is. That one word that's hard to swallow. The thing most of us want to say we don't have a problem with, but the truth is that's our major problem. It's at least mine.

So the other night when I was reading from a book of prayer, I came across a hymn that I hadn't heard in a long time.

"I need Thee every hour,
Stay Thou near by;
Temptations lose their power
When Thou art nigh.
I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee!
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee!