One Tired Girl

So this year I took the plunge and decided to bring a student to school. Thomas is so gifted and talented - with the ability to do anything but he is not always very motivated...so I decided I would encourage him to be motivated by picking him up. This meant waking up at 6:45 a.m. and generally getting back to sleep by a little after 7a.m.

Well then Veronica -(I don't have any pictures of her) asked if I could pick her up as well. She lives near Thomas and is going to the same school. That seemed like a good idea because I really want to make in-roads into her family. This meant waking up at 6:40 a.m. and still getting back to sleep a little after 7 a.m.



Then I was talking to Amp (Thomas' brother) and found out that his bus stop is on the way to Thomas' school but it would be a 2-mile walk for Amp every morning to get there. The bus picks him up just a little earlier than the other two need to get to school so that means getting up at 6:30 a.m and getting back to sleep a little after 7:00 a.m.

Are you noticing the trend? The time is getting earlier and earlier...

Then...AJ has been having trouble at home and has been staying at Thomas' house. His school is 3 miles away. A bit of a walk to say the least. This didn't change my getting up time, however, it is 3 miles in the opposite direction...so now I'm getting home at 7:30.

Well then...AJ has been having trouble at home and has been staying at Thomas' house. His school is 3 miles away. A bit of a walk to say the least. This didn't change my getting up time, however, it is 3 miles in the opposite direction...so now I'm getting home at 7:30.

I think the word must have been spreading that Miss Ruth is a taxi driver because I got to Thomas' house one morning and 6 boys came piling out of the house...all going to different schools. Now not only does that mean I am up longer and longer...but 6 boys and one girl (Veronica) don't all fit very well in my little Corolla...so you guessed it...I had to make two trips. Not arriving home until almost 8 a.m.

This definitely does not happen every morning...but occasionally I am greeted with some kind of surprise like this when I get to Thomas' house at 6:40 in the morning. And let me tell you this tired girl often turns into one yucky, grouchy girl when I am met with all these unexpected surprises that are cutting into my sleep.

I could say that I am just tired and excuse my grouchi-ness away as a result of that...or the fact that I am caught unexpectedly off-guard or the fact that these kids are only thinking of themselves and will most likely not even be grateful (like most teenagers)...I'm sure I could explain it away on a lot of levels if I tried hard enough but really it just reveals my selfish, impatient, sinful nature which resides at the core of who I am. Under the right conditions I am an evil beast in my responses. This has not been pretty.

Anyway, I would love your prayers that God would deal with my sinful, impatient self in such a way that allows me to deal with grace, gentleness and perseverance with my kiddos.

On a side note...I know most people in the human world are up at 6:30 or earlier on a regular basis but unfortunately, I work late often not getting to sleep until at least midnight and if you know me well you know that I need a whopping 9 hours of sleep. I know that is sickening but I think God made me that way on purpose.