EEEWWWW!!!!

My mind reels at where to begin!  Last night was a rough night for us.  Meliya woke me up 3 times throughout the night because her belly hurt.  The third time, she threw up on the carpet.  It's never a good sign to be cleaning puke up off the carpet at 4 am.  However, we went off to sleep in hopes that we could catch a few more hours of rest before the day was here.  Unfortunately, my body had gotten so conditioned with waking up at night with her or Caillyn's problems that I just laid there awake thinking every little sound I heard was an emergency call for, "MOM!"  I did not like when my alarm came on at 7 am.  The snooze button and I had a long banter back and forth until I drug myself out of bed at 7:30 am.  I managed to muster enough strength and energy to get ready and let the dogs out.  Unfortunately, when I let the dogs out I heard Meliya and Caillyn playing (not in a just-woke-up, good morning way).  That's usually a good sign that they will be cranky all day.  So I went in there and told them to spend the rest of the time before their alarm went off laying quietly in bed because they needed rest after the long night.  Surprisingly, they obeyed...mostly.

While the last 15 minutes of quiet loomed over the house, I took advantage of some time in the Word.  As I read my daily passages, I kept praying that God would give me something to hang my hat on.  Something that would lift me up and carry me through the day because, honestly, it was going to be an ugly day because I was too tired to be nice.  I know, mom's should always be nice, kind and compassionate.  However, sleep deprivation robs me of all that...just being honest! 

Well, the girls got up and the marathon was on....  The breakfast battle got off to a good start as I got everything ready and Meliya and Caillyn were at the table eating.  Now off to get Bryleigh who was stirring in her room.  Down the hall I went to start the process of getting her up when I smelt that smell from the bathroom.  I thought to myself, "I'll have to flush that in a minute."  You see, I thought one of the girls left a stink pickle in the toilet as they are apt to do.  Imagine my surprise when I opened Bryleigh's door to find that the smell was emanating from in there!  I quickly turned on the light to find one of my worst nightmares...yep, you guessed it, ...she was covered in poo!  EEEWWWW!!!!!

I thought that after 3 children I had come to grips with how to deal with some of the grossest situations...apparently not.  What I saw made me scream, "EEEEWWWW!!!!!  GROSSSS!!!" before I could even think about stopping myself!  Of course, my sweet, sensitive Bryleigh started bawling because her feelings were hurt, but I was at a loss on what to do.  You see, we are not trained on how to respond or what to do first when you encounter a baby smeared in poo.  Yes, I said smeared...everywhere.  I spent the next 30 minutes giving her a mani/pedi to clean out the poo from under her nails, a bath to clean it off her face, arms, legs, hands and feet, and then moving to the bed to scrub down the spindles, top rails, and even the wall.  Apparently she discovered finger painting with poo this morning and wanted to add to my mural.  There was poo all over the bed, on the floor, and in her hair!!!  Then I had to sanitize 3 of the 4 pacifiers she has because they were smeared with poo too!  Thankfully, 1 pacifier had been left on her changing table the night before to help quell the cries while I took care of this clean-up process.

After all of that, I was able to feed her and finally have breakfast (over 2 hours after I woke up).  Needless to say, the headache I have right now is warranted.  However, the irony falls on the verse of scripture God pointed out to me this morning as I was begging for some supernatural energy.  "...correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction." 2 Timothy 4:2  Boy does God have a sense of humor!  I failed that test this morning because great patience and careful instruction were overshadowed by disgust and the desire to bathe the stink off!  Although I did not practice this verse this morning very well, the weight of its truth does leave a mark on my heart.

How often does God "correct, rebuke and encourage" us "with great patience and careful instruction" when we've screwed up?  Hopefully I can trust God to equip me to handle the gross stuff that is sure to come the next time I have a situation I would rather run from than face.  Maybe, just maybe, the next time will be the time I successfully execute great patience and careful instruction.  You never know when you will be faced with a situation that will require great patience and careful instruction for mere survival.  Let us practice it now while it is our petty comforts that are being sacrificed.

Thankfully, the day is not over.  We have managed to have a mediocre day despite the rocky start.  Hopefully this will be a pattern that will lead to an OK afternoon and good evening!