I just spent naptime (translate: free time for mother’s of toddlers and babies) drinking some hot cocoa and reading Pioneer Woman archives — I’m tellin’ ya, that woman is HILARIOUS! If you’ve never read the antics of Ree, you MUST head over there. It will make your day better. And you’ll want to move to a ranch. Or find a friend like Ree.
Then I spent a few minutes sitting and wondering if I should do something more constructive during naptime. I often feel the guilt of it anyway, I might as well make it an actual thought, right? Perhaps I should bake bread. Or I should vacuum under the couch (yikes). Or I should put all our finances into spreadsheets on the computer. (SERIOUSLY. Who told me that spreadsheets were a necessity to wise finance management??! Could you kindly retract your statement? I live in a world of worry because I never get around to it..) But then again, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and praying about unnecessary guilt recently, so instead of wondering about it further, I just looked up and asked God, “Do you care if I spend naptime reading Pioneer Woman?”..and I think He smiled at me. And He said, “You live under a pile of guilt, dear one.” And I said, “I know.” And He said, “Let’s work on that.” And I said, “Ok… but can I read Pioneer Woman during naptime?”
Then I wrote this post. *Sigh* We humans and our rule-following — I just want a standard so I can stay within the lines and make everything nice and pretty. I’m CERTAIN its God’s grace to me that there isn’t one. (Here I would post lots of Scriptural references if I could remember them about Jesus fulfilling the law and salvation by grace through faith, etc, but my son is kicking the wall in his room and I feel some urgency about ending the post.)
Now I’m going to go in and get my little guy, who is making grunting noises. We will hang out or play or watch “Lady and the Tramp II” for the TOO-MANY-ITH time. Then I’m making fajitas and margaritas, and I’ll share them with friends. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving.
(We’ll eat some turkey tomorrow, don’t worry. We’re still good American girls and boys, though we live in the Far East!)
highcountries.wordpress.com 
You have been talking about guilt a lot lately, makes me realize I’m more like other people than I had thought. It’s funny how you start to critique how you spend the few minutes you do have when you’re a stay at home mom. At the end of the day I always wonder where my time went and how I accomplished next to nothing. Don’t feel bad, you need a little R&R as well and sometimes a good book helps rejuvenate in a short amount of time (ie nap time). Those dust bunnies can wait another day, or more!
I think it is a very human tendency when it comes to wanting rules – to know where the line is, what exactly to do, so we can check it off our list and move on. The funny thing is, though, that when we as humans had rules in the form of the OT Law, we couldn’t live up to them, AND we still felt the need to make up our own rules (Pharisees) to further enhance and clarify the Law. Basically we are sinful people who are always discontent and convinced we’d be better if only we were in a slightly different situation. 🙂 At least that’s how I usually feel.
jame- i could have written this post- i have those feelings too- and i love pioneer woman- and i read it often looking for fun new recipes.. but anyways- yes i feel this way. just so you know you aren’t alone-
and i’m jealous about the margaritas! 🙂