for the greater good

my alarm was set to go off around 5:45 this morning, but i got out of bed a hair earlier. i sat down to check email and the weather, and decided it would be best to send my team leader an email asking to spend 8 of my PTO (paid time off) hours. i checked work email again just before dinner to find that my team leader wasn't in today, so i'm hoping someone got the message and wasn't scrambling around looking for me. but i also remember that others have my cell phone, and my boss had emailed me during the day, which would have kicked back the out-of-office reply i set up earlier in the morning. so i couldn't have been missed that much at work, though i know i would have been missed much by my family had i gone downtown today. so, for the greater good, i stayed home. and i needed the rest anyway.
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it's funny how we can define 'rest'. today, rather than taking it easy after a long, hectic weekend, i decided to clean both garages and the basement. if you don't see my house on a regular basis, you have no idea what kind of work this entails. since the weather was so nice, i also went outside with sarah and the girls just before dinner to start up some lawn work. while out there, i smelled disc golf... it's not far away!
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so today was fun, but i still dislike being a parent at bed time. i know it's not easy, but i'm sure it has a lot to do with me hating bed time when i was a child. i was a little devil at bed time, which is probably why i still have a bitter taste in my mouth from it. i can't blame my parents, for i see now what they probably went through... though i can't say my girls throw a temper tantrum on a regular basis like myself.
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i think alexandra believes the world revolves around her and that she governs the laws of the universe b/c grandpa has treated her like a queen over the last 2.5 years of her life. don't get me wrong, every little girl should be treated like a princess to an extent, and grandparents should be allowed to 'spoil' their grandchildren. but really spoiling a child never came to any real good either. anyway... that's just my vent for the day.
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but i think i've earned some respect with the girls lately, b/c at times they will listen to me right off the bat when they haven't listened to mommy for the last half hour straight. but i have to be careful, b/c i can let that get to my head. i can start to think i'm the one with the power, and they respect me b/c of me. i've groaned to god about my parenting, and i believe he's giving me many opportunities to hone what parenting skills he's blessed me with... they're deep down in there somewhere. but evidence: i was sitting doing my daily bible reading while sarah read on the couch in the living room to the girls individually before bed time. sonja was the last to come down for a book, while alex 'read' quietly on her own upstairs. story time was over, and sonja was not happy about that. she began to cry, raise her voice a little, and throw her body around a bit as little children love to do when they're not getting their way. well, sarah's attempts were futile for some reason, b/c i thought she was doing a good job at being patient and explaining to sonja that this was just how things were to go. now i'm fine and understanding when it comes to children being upset (especially when they're tired), but i still have issues with understanding lack of respect, regardless of mental state. so i very calmly closed my bible and stood up. sonja immediately stopped crying, and her and sarah both looked my direction. i said, 'we headed up for bed?' and we went up smoothly. as i mentioned before, i can't and won't take the credit, but i can't but admit that i'm very happy god has made me somewhat respectable in my children's eyes.
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favorite bible verse read today: "josheb-basshebeth, a tahkemonite, was chief of the three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. " (2 samuel 23:8b) - this is the beginning of a passage on 'david's might men.' there are some pretty wicked awesome heroes in this short section of the bible, all of home sound as though they'd give maximus and william wallace a run for their money. where are men like this today? men who can face spiritual warfare as david's mighty men looked eye-to-eye with the swords and spears of hundreds?
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favorite picture taken today (i didn't take any today, but i figured with the many great pictures i took yesterday, i would just take the liberty of posting another of these for today's entry. as always, click to image to enlarge):