little things

This much I know: the Lord is in the little things.

***
I've been busy. Four kids has sort of thrown me into a tailspin of daily frantic doing, but with not much getting done. The last couple weeks were exceptionally overwhelming; not for any particular reason, but just because of the million little things that added up to chaos. I found myself snapping at the kids and frustrated with myself and losing more and more sleep trying to catch up. I was praying for help to get it all done.

***
Somehow, I managed to sneak away for an hour to go to ward choir practice. Our inspired leader is ever uplifting and being in her home, singing sacred words, was exactly what I needed. The hymn being rehearsed was "Take Time to be Holy." Oh, how these words speak to my soul:

Take time to be holy, Speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, And feed on His word;
Take time to be holy, The world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret With Jesus alone;
By looking to Jesus, Like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

The reminder to 'spend much time' with the Lord and to 'feed on His word' was exactly what I needed. I changed my prayer from 'help me get it done' to 'help me have the Spirit.' And, even though the list didn't go away, my approach to it {eventually} did.

***
Saturday came early. A forgotten alarm set us awake at 'weekday' time instead of the sleeping-in that usually happens. The mountain of the undone was still on my doorstep, but I set about my 'chipping away.' Chad called from work to ask if the kids could don Halloween costumes and come show the staff. My first instinct was to sigh with fatigue, but then inspiration hit and I knew what we would do.

Since Halloween was on Sunday this year we'd already talked with the kids about skipping trick-or-treating. They knew we'd go trunk-or-treating at our Church party, so they weren't too concerned about the lack of candy. But, I still wanted to do something festive for all their neighborhood friends we play with everyday. So, we put together little bags of goodies and made simple Halloween tags. I dressed the kids in their costumes (ironically, a Christmas theme for us this year), and before heading to Daddy's office we did our trick-or-treating BACKWARDS, delivering goodies at each door.

Dallin cheerfully noted, "We are treat-or-tricking!" and Kate said, "It IS backwards trick-or-treating, since we are going in the day and not in the night." They had such fun ringing each doorbell and presenting our little goodie bags to their surprised friends. The smiles were contagious. I couldn't help but feel the joy of giving, too. It was the highlight of my holiday; the answer to prayer.

***
The Lord has many big things to keep Him busy, but I will be ever grateful that He finds time to 'be in' the little things, too; to honor and inspire me when I take a moment to be holy and honor Him.

our Halloween-Christmasy crew

candy cane baby

dancing elf who refused to wear his hat

mr. and mrs. claus
aka: treat-or-trickers