I like quiet. I like it so much that when I am in my car alone, sometimes I don't listen to anything... just the quiet. In earlier days, my husband and I would argue over quiet. He likes music playing in the backgroud at our house, I like quiet. Now we have six kids, and they are loud! They are rarely quiet. So, needless to say I have learned to live with a certain level of noise. But I often dream of having that perfect family. You know, the kind that all the kids are well mannered, well dressed, obedient and of course, quiet. This family does not exist, but I still find myself dreaming of the day...

The hardest time at my house comes between 6:30pm and 8pm. During that hour and a half there is usually someone crying, two kids fighting, one jumping on the furniture, a dirty diaper and of course there are baths, dishes to clean, and teeth to brush. Now that I am doing this alone, I have found that a hard time has become impossible. But not tonight. Tonight all the kids managed to get cleaned and dressed in pjs without a huge fuss. And then as I sat in my chair feeding the baby I looked around to see my dream come true. My oldest was reading on the couch to my four year old son. My oldest son was snuggled up in a chair reading to my two year old daughter. And my six year old son was sitting on the floor with a pile of books reading to himself. This went on for thirty minutes! It seemed like forever. As the baby finished eating, she slowy drifted off to sleep in my arms. There was no fighting, no yelling, no jumping on furniture or running up and down the stairs. Then they all brushed their teeth and went to bed, happily. I know these moments are few and far between because my children are still young and we are working hard to instill godly attitudes and behaviors in them. But I am thankful that for one night I was able to see some fruit.  

So tomorrow when I am disciplining my four year old for the tenth time I will remember Proverbs 29:17, Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. The road is not easy but most of the time the best things in life are hard.