"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22

These are two great verses for moms with little ones. I like to think of myself as a patient person, but sometimes my facial expression and calm demeanor don't exactly reveal the stress I am internalizing. My husband is out of town, so I am at home with my five-year-old, three-year-old, and one-year-old. Now they are good little kids, but, like all kids their age, they need me to do many things for them. Tonight as I was changing a poopy diaper, my three-year-old was asking me to do something, and my five-year-old was yelling, "Look at me, Mom! Look at me, Mom!" I started to feel my blood pressure rise. I reminded my five-year-old that I was only one person and couldn't "do it all." He actually understood and stopped clamoring for my attention. I calmly reminded my three-year-old that once I said I would do something, she didn't need to ask oh, say, 200 times for the same thing. Calm on the outside I was, but a bit stressed on the inside (I sound like Yoda). Anyway, I have a friend named Amy who is the epitome of a "calm" mom. In fact, she's just a calm person. Just the other day I was on the phone with her talking about their upcoming move to Arizona. Now they are moving in only two weeks. She was packing up the house, getting stuff ready for a yard sale, and being a mom to five kids. During the conversation, her oldest daughter came in the house to tell her something. Amy said, "Oh, Naomi just decided to poop outside." Naomi is her two-year-old. I must admit that if this were me, my first response would be something like, "What? This is great! Tell her to clean it up herself!" I'm hoping I would at some point realize the insanity of having my two-year-old clean up her own excrement and go do it myself. Anyway, my point is that being relaxed just seems to come easily to Amy, as I've noted in other people. Sometimes I'm relaxed, but other times I have a hard time just "being still." When I'm at home, it's as if the dust on our dresser is saying, "Hey, would you mind cleaning me? It's been a year!" So, I'm going to focus on Psalm 46:10 when this happens. I don't recall who wrote this, but I once read, "What seems urgent is not always what is most important." When I'm pulled in three different directions, I think I will just remember that some things are beyond my control and begin laughing hysterically. I've heard that sometimes it actually helps to make oneself laugh. I mean, I don't want my children to think I've gone insane, but I will remember Proverbs 17:22. After all, who wants dry bones?