Ow, ow! Love me some Andrew William!
Philia which refers to the love one has for a friend
My soul mate, Alison...love her! January/February 04 I think?
and lastly, Storge which is the kind of affection which is that natural bond between mother or father and children (in most cases). In my case for sure!!!
Me and my little, 7 month old Cyrus.
Agape is the love that is unconditional. Not matter the condition, it continues without end. Choosing to agape is to love regardless of how we feel.<---as in it's NOT a feeling, necessarily. It's a choice.
The love of The Father. The love of Jesus as he choose to die on the cross. We are called to love with agape love. It's hard. It's not easy. Yesterday was no exception...
Yesterday morning started out nice with a speech session for Zekey. He did wonderful! He's making more sounds, new sounds and I'm really proud of him!
Afterwards, I let the kids go out in the backyard to play and I noticed one of my Caribou Coffee mugs had been thrown right outside on the back porch. Of course it was broken. Oh, Zeke. I was bummed because this was one of 2 mugs I was given by my dear Bou girls as a wedding gift. Ya know, I worked at Caribou Coffee right before I got married :)
Next my sweet friend, Kate came over to hang out in the beautiful chaos of my life. We drank french pressed coffee (my first time making it!). We chatted of trials and how we are both very different (for the better!) because of what trails we have both faced (and are facing). We talked a bit about parenting and that we can do the very best job in raising our children (her future children) and showing/teaching them the importance of Jesus in their lives but in the end, we.can't.save.them.
I really needed this. I LOVE hanging out with friends and being goofy and laughing but in order to feel like I'm growing and stretching and to feel a less "surfacy" bond with my friends, I need the serious stuff, too.
It was a loverly time.
So far, agape was easy. Naps ended and we were right out the door to get Eisley to dance class. I dropped her off and thought I'd tackle the grocery store with the other three to purchase the rest of what we needed to make 'hamburgs', as they call it in Toledo. I just love to say it like that! Maybe mostly because Andy hates it ;)
Anywho, After getting into the store, I realized I didn't get my debit card. I knew I didn't have time to (nor did I want to) pack up all of the kids to drive home to get it and come back so I used my noggin and transferred money via my iphone...so I thought. Oh, yes, it IS coming...
I have Zekey, who is doing really well on my hip, pushing Bex in the cart and Cy trailing behind. We spend 35 minutes picking out produce, healthy snacks, sides for dinner and such. Why it took so long?! I have no idea! Oh! It was the kind lady who talked to me for 10 minutes ;)
I get to the checkout and my card will not work. Embarrassed? Pissed? No, but completely annoyed with myself. I apologize like 4 times because I know they have to put all of my stuff back. The woman at the register was super sweet. I just walked away wondering why the heck my card wouldn't work?!
At this point, I am sweating and honestly, the only prayer I had was, "Please don't let Cyrus start asking me why we are walking away without our food or remind me to go back to get our food, or even start to cry that he didn't get the string cheese I FINALLY remembered (and allowed) to buy." And he didn't. It may sound silly but I felt an extra dose of grace from Cyrus' silence.
My next prayer in the car, out loud was, "Okay God?! Seriously...what are you trying to teach me?! I know you don't think I'm an idiot like I think of myself..."
I drove to pick up Eisley. AT this point, I was just praying that I would get to dance at the exact time Eisley was done. I didn't want to drag all the kids in and talk to people. I wanted to just talk to Eisley, ask her how dance was and leave. Again, God heard me and blessed that thought/prayer...whatever it was.
I decided I was over the whole "make a healthy dinner so it can be mostly done for when Andy gets home" attitude and went for a 180 spin in taking the kids to get shakes so I didn't have to take them home to mess it up before dinner and I just needed to drive with minimal noise.
Oh, yes...I did. I drove up, ordered 3 shakes and realized I still.didn't.have.the.card. haha!!??!?!? I laugh and tell her, "I forgot my card. I will be right back!"
I drive and park. I look at my phone to see if I can try and transfer money again. What do I see?! I forgot to press SUBMIT earlier and THAT is why the card wouldn't work!!!!! Are you freaking kidding me?!
So I call Andy in my HOT van b/c the air decided to only work while I am driving 80...err...uh, 65 on the expressway ;) Oh! Actually the air in the back worked which I feel was another blessing from God because the good Lord knows THEY WOULD BE LETTING ME KNOW HOW HOT THEY WERE!
I basically just say, "Can you transfer money for me? Are you at a computer?" You can tell he wants more but I really didn't want to explain my day thus far...
We get the shakes and my plan was to drive in Olde Worthington to look at dream homes...nope. I accidentally drove home by habit....another blessing?! haha!
Are you still reading?! ;) Eisley asks me to read her a story. She's always asking me to play dolls with her, read to her, etc and rarely is it a time that I am available. It sucks. So, I was finally available and we sat and read 2 pages and are interrupted by a very loud shattering of glass.
I throw, yes throw my phone down and find Zeke at the top of the stairs looking guilty. After screaming as I asked him what he did, I looked down to find my french press that I had finally used for the first time, shattered into many small pieces all over the basement. Did I mention I have shag carpet? I do!
I grab a rubber glove and a bag and spend a half hour picking up tiny shards of glass and then vacuuming. The blessing there?! It was NOT my french press. It was my coffee pot. So now, I get to do this in order to heat my water before using my french press....
That's a Cheers mug instead of my coffee pot. My french press looks like it's judging the Cheers mug saying, "You are such a freak!"
As I am talking to my mom on the phone telling her about my day (bless her heart for listening!), I see Zeke take my Cheers mug, open the basement door and get ready to chuck it....really?!
I was just emailing my MIL who is traveling Europe with friends and I realized just how much Zeke had done within the afternoon yesterday and this morning..here are my words exactly.
"He threw my coffee pot down the stairs yesterday and it shattered on our shag carpet, so that was fun to clean up. He also threw a mug outside that I got to clean up. He threw his whole bowl of oatmeal away this morning, poured a whole cup of water in the silverware drawer....this is just yesterday afternoon and this morning!!!!"
I storge Zeke but it's a challenge to respond to these daily situations with Agape. Like a big challenge. Actually, this is with all of my kids...I wish I naturally chose agape but the truth is, it's work to do so.
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