This week's flashback involves a few pictures and a story from our Christmas vacation in Utah. On the Sunday that we were there, Scott's mom made some rolls for dinner and invited the kids to help out. It made for a lovely moment or two with the winter afternoon sunshine pouring into the kitchen while they helped grandma to roll out and then roll up the crescent rolls we would be eating for dinner.
And then it ended. In a not so lovely manner. Grace, who I think had asked to help first, was not so appreciative of all the extra helping hands. By the time the last round was rolled out and ready to cut, she was pretty much losing it. As is often the case, her overly tired and emotional state of being resulted in a massive meltdown of Grace-like proportions. For the next half an hour to an hour I tried {unsuccessfully} to calm her down and keep her from bothering everyone else in the house. Scott was out helping his dad to shovel a neighbor's driveway and I was on my own to try and head off her storm while all the other kids were doing their best to thwart my efforts. Once she had rained out all of her emotions, she was finally able to start calming down as I suggested (for like the 10th time) that we sit down and color together with Sophie's fashion template notebook. We sat down at the table {with Grace and her 8-year-old self sitting ON my lap} and proceeded to trace and color and eventually relax. The storm gave way once more to the calm. By the time Scott got back an hour later, all was well and as I filled him in on the story I commented that I was able to brush up on my "Parenting 505" skills while dealing with her fit.
As I was reflecting on this incident, it struck me that this specific episode is rather symbolic of life in general for us, with times of difficulty sandwiched between moments of peace and tranquility. As the end of 2012 drew to a close, I found myself searching for a label to plaster over the past 12 months. The end of the last few years has found me in this same boat -- searching for something that will accurately represent and sum up the biggest life lesson I've learned that year. There were plenty of potential labels for 2012, all with very similar themes, but the one I finally settled on came to me a couple of weeks ago as I was preparing my lesson for Sunday School. Because you see, the biggest thing I realized last year is that life is hard. Really hard sometimes. BUT. The tender mercies of the Lord are over all his works. I have seen this over and over again. Not just last year but throughout my entire life. I am grateful for this knowledge and equally grateful to know that those tender mercies did not end with the close of last year.
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