the return of routine...

Up early... another rainy Monday morning in April... and, in my opinion, rainy mornings do not make for easy awakening.  


However, today, there is something enticing, for me, about the return to routine... knowing who needs to be where and when.  While life is constantly fluid... ebbing and flowing with minute changes on most days and life altering changes that blessedly don't come often... I find a sense of security in routine.... Even the routine of driving my man to work and our man-cub to school felt good and right on this early, rainy Monday morning.


My mind knows what my heart finds hard to accept... that is, life has no routine and routine has no security.  My God has ordained my days... He controls them, not I.  He knows who needs to be where and when and how and why.  His Divine wisdom answers those questions. I am simply a vessel to be used for His glory... even in the daily routine.

These two loves of my life... my man and my almost 12 year old, just spent 7 days in Guatemala and 2 days traveling.  Nine days.  And, now that they are home, our family feels complete again.  We are returning to routine... and the routine feels good and right.

They spent 6 days working in this rural clinic with a team of doctors, nurse anesthetists, nurses and a few volunteers.  Thirty-seven surgeries were completed... and one was observed by my 11 year old.  Thirty-seven patients were treated in pre-op and post-op, some cared for by my Emme.  Many children waited for family members or to be seen by a doctor, most entertained by Emily while they waited.

Life is fluid... ebbing and flowing... and while we are returning to the routine of our family life... we are not returning the same people, especially Emily.  She experienced another country... another culture.  She worked harder last week than she ever has in her life.  She saw things that she had never seen and touched people's lives in a way she didn't know she could.  She no longer says "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up."... instead... her words are now, "When I'm a nurse...".  

As I count on this Multitude Monday my gifts of grace... my list of ongoing gratitude to the One from whom all blessings flow... I am acutely reminded that the security of routine is a mirage built on the shifting sands of time... and though the return of routine is a gift today, my hope and trust is in the One who has no beginning and no end... the One who is my solid Rock... the One who never ebbs, never flows, never changes.


for these things and more, I am grateful...


...safe journeying
...a trip of a lifetime
...changed hearts
...the privilege to be used
...sweet reunions


...the excited hugs of sisters
...an 11 yr old BFF who came out at 10 p.m. to welcome Emme home
...words of encouragement from doctors and nurses who fell in love with my girl last week
...all 5 of us sleeping under the same roof


...stories, stories and more stories
...my man who shares the details with me
...not sleeping alone in a bed built for two
...warmth and closeness


...knowing the One who is not capable of change
...trusting in Him
...the gift of routine on this Multitude Monday!