Snow

It snowed at my house !

Only in my living room though.

A reality in my world is Ronda and I both have to work. It creates a problem. The kids get home from school at 3:30. Ronda sometimes goes to work at 4:00. I get off at 5:00.

Therein lies the problem.

One hour of unrestrained chaos, having its way with my house. I guess the best way to visualize it is imagining a category 5 hurricane contained inside four walls. I think I qualify for FEMA relief.

Madison (the oldest) is old enough to babysit her younger brothers. So that was the solution to our problem. Madison will babysit the boys until I get home. It's only one hour ... what can happen?

I underestimated the destructive force of my children.

I came home from work and as I am unlocking the front door, a sweet aroma hits my nose. It's strong! Wait, I recognize that smell ... "Spring Fresh". That's what Glade calls it. I open the front door, step into the living room, and immediately reach sensory over-load.

Visually, I am blinded by the thin layer of white powder covering every inch of the carpet. Olfactorily, my nose is burning from the Spring Fresh-ness.

Brady (4) decided the carpet in the living room was stinky. So he spread Glade carpet deodorizer - over the entire living room. I didn't know the box could hold that much!

Where are the other two (older) kids? Good question. Brandon (9) is playing the Playstation 2 ... sitting on the carpet ... in the living room. He is totally zoned and unaware that he sits in the only un-deodorized area of the room. Brady just worked around him. Madison (11) is in her bedroom listening to her MP3 player. She noticed the smell and thought, "Wow, that smells good," and just kept listening.

Daddy to the rescue. I open ALL the windows and give the vacuum a good workout - chuckling.

I can't count how many times I've made a mess in my life. Not spills or kitchen disasters. Those messes are easy to clean up. I'm talking about mistakes, choices and pathways in my life. Things that are not so easily fixed... by me. Some of those messes were made with good intentions. I thought a choice was a good one, or a pathway was God chosen for me. I'm only trying to help God out. And thinking I'm doing the right thing, I make a mess. Trying to make the stinky carpet in my life smell Spring Fresh.

"Father, can you fix this ... please?"

God breaks out the Divine vacuum cleaner, chuckling. "Next time, let ME handle this, " He says.

Back to the living room. Luckily, I got it all cleaned up before Ronda got home. I even got an "atta-boy" for vacuuming!

Madison was FIRED !!