Peaceful Home?

The day started out perfectly! I got up, made my tea, got a few rusks and climbed back into bed. Nancy was still sleeping, so I left the light off. I closed my eyes and began to pray: "Dear Father please help us to have a good day". I drank the rest of my tea and ate my rusks. I got up, waved goodbye to my dad and went back inside to say good morning to my mom. I really hoped we would have a good day. We decided to go to the shop after breakfast to get some essential groceries (like toilet paper)! We had to walk, as my dad had the car. It was a beautiful Autumn morning. Fresh and crisp. A perfect day! It was a good walk and tired us out a lot, especially Gabrielle! I bought us some doughnuts, as I felt like something yummy, it was a nice little treat for us all but the sugar in them was probably not a good idea! Gabrielle was REALLY miserable when we got home, crying and shouting! I popped a few eggs in the steamer while we got the last few chores done. Nancy was very behind in all her chores as she was on sink duty, where she washes and dries the dishes the whole day, due to the two of us fighting over who was going to wash-up and who was going to dry. Beth was in everybodys' way and then tried to play a game of trains, which Gabrielle got into and sent the pair screaming at each other. Meanwhile, I was buttering bread desperately, trying not to get into trouble myself! My poor mom, she was trying to take everything slow and calmly, but it it didn't seem to be any use! Eventually, I gave everyone lunch and retired to my bedroom with my sandwiches and water to read my magazines and to get out of the way of the littles, who were louder than ever! After eating luch, I noticed that Gabrielle had eaten all her food! No wonder the poor thing was so miserable! Luckily, before I sat down to eat my lunch, I made wise decision to clean up the kitchen before I relaxed! That proved a REALLY good decision as the house was still messy from trying to 'clean' the house. Nancy, very sweetly decided to let Beth wash the dishes! Beth got water all over the floor, causing my mom to stress even more! Finally, we got Gabrielle down, which was a HUGE relief to us all! My mom read Beth a story and tucked her into bed! Aaah, peace at last. Nancy was making cards, my mom was in bed napping, Gabrielle and Beth were sleeping..... quiet! Now we had some peace! What the little ones' actually needed, was to go sleep sooner. We then would not have had to go through what we did! I now have the assurance that they will be in MUCH better mood when they wake up! Some days go like that! I can go back and learn from my mistakes! We should have got up and pulled our lazy selves up last night and gone to the shop! Then we would not have had to have so much stress! At least I can go to bed at night and laugh over what happened during the day! I can wake up tomorrow and try again! I can ask God to give us strengh to cope during the day! I can go and hug my little sisters who, just three hours before were my worst enemies! I can start the day clean and fresh! I can start the day with a 'clean slate', knowing that we will make mistakes and cannot expect a 'perfect' day! I just have to take the time to stop and pray. I can stop any time, anywhere, any place and any day! I can ask the Father to give me strengh to go on. We can have a peaceful home if we have peaceful hearts. The Father can give it to us if we ask Him. I am not saying that the moment we pray, we will be all sweet, gentle and loving! By no means will we! We have to learn! I will still pray for a gentle spirit and a peaceful home, but I need to learn from my mistakes. A bad day makes us stronger as a person and we are able to cope better next time! Although we had a very trying morning, we were still able to enjoy the rest of the day! We can get up, dust ourselves off and move on! We don't have to spoil the rest of the day thinking how badly we handled our bad circumstances. We can try again! We can have a peaceful home! Tomorrow I will not only pray for a good day, but for the strength to cope with whatever the day throws at us!