Guard Frogs, Full Moons, Potty Breaks, and Inescapable Things...

So we have this stack of bricks by our front door. I left them there one day and when I went to put them away I noticed this Frog (well toad, i know there is a difference, but I still call it a frog) and it was living in the bricks. Every night and every morning we could see it poking its head out of the holes in the bricks. I could not bring myself to move the bricks after that. One, I was like free bug killer and mosquito catcher right there by the front door! Score! Two, the kids loved seeing the frog every time we came in and out of the house, and it became a game to see if we could find him (or her who knows!), so I left the bricks.

Well, that was like 3 years ago... and every Spring we have "guard frogs" again. Last spring our guard frog had little frog babies and the kids went nuts! These teeny tiny baby frogs hopping around, and we watched them grow up all summer long! Yesterday, we witnessed the return of the "guard frog," and it got me thinking... they will always come back. That spot in those bricks is a great home for these frogs. And where we only had one the first year each year since we have had more and more.

They really do hang out right by the front door, and it is like they are guarding the house. (I do sort of worry when I walk in the house after dark that I am going to step on one!) Last night I counted 5 of these little "guard frogs." It really hit me... I am so glad there are certain things that just happen. Some things that are just inescapable facts of life. Spring time comes...frogs come. They will live in those bricks all summer until the first cold snap here and then they will disappear for the winter, and next spring they will come back. It is life. And in the craziness of my life, knowing certain things just will happen is really nice...

Just like every Spring our frogs return, every month there is a full moon. It just happens. God created the world with order, and in the midst of the chaos of my life the world continues to function in perfect order. 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, "God is not a God of disorder, but of peace." And I do find peace in the order of his creation. The last few weeks things in life have seemed just out of control. And seeing the return of our "guard frogs" and the full moon made me realize even though my life may seem out of control, God has everything in perfect order. I can rest and have peace in knowing that I am not in control but He is.

It is just like I know the moment we walk in the grocery store, one of my children will say they need to go to the bathroom. We will walk to the bathroom and I will ask all 3 to go. Only one will, even though I make everyone try. We will get all the way to the back of the store and kid 2 will ask to go to the bathroom, AND It will be an emergency, so we will run to the front of the store, and everyone will go potty AGAIN! We will resume our shopping trip, get to the back of the store again, and wait for it......... kid #3 will say they HAVE to go to the bathroom! It is inevitable. EVERY TIME. It used to drive me crazy, and it definitely prolonged my shopping trips. But, I have started to embrace the multiple potty trips. It is an inescapable fact of life. And as I said there is a comfort in knowing certain things will just happen, when sooo many uncertain things take place every day. Don't get me wrong, solo shopping trips are still my favorite because it is like going to the spa or something equally relaxing. I actually take longer at the store when I don't have the kids then when they are with me.... But again that is just one of those inescapable facts of life.

So, with the frogs, the full moon, the kids and their potty breaks, I began thinking about the one thing I know I just can't escape. Psalm 139: 1 - 12 says,

"O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
² You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³ You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
⁴ You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.
⁵ You go before me and follow me.
    You place your hand of blessing on my head.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too great for me to understand!

⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave, you are there.
⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
¹²     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you."

It doesn't matter that I don't know what tomorrow will hold, and I don't know what next school year holds for my kids, and I don't know what next school year holds for me, and I don't know what the next 5 years hold (yes, I wonder about the future... more than I should), and it doesn't matter that I am behind in my school work, and it doesn't matter that life seems really chaotic at times.... 

I just have to accept the inescapable love of a Creator who brought perfect order to darkness. A Creator who shaped nothingness into something and brings "guard frogs" every spring, and full moons every month, and yes even a Creator who gave me 3 children who will inevitably ALL ask to go to the bathroom at DIFFERENT times at the grocery store.

I have to rest in the peace of knowing ^"Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." (Ephesians 1:4 - 5) 

With Easter coming, and the reminder of Jesus dying to pay for my sins so I can spend eternity in heaven with God, something I am so unworthy of, it is a great reminder that God decided a long time ago to save me, and ANYONE who accepts the gift of salvation through Jesus. And I don't accept that gift lightly. It is not a gift to take advantage of, but a gift that leads me to want to live a life pleasing to my Father in heaven, and be grateful for the order and peace that only He can bring. So, in my chaos, I have to stop and praise God for his perfect plan and I have to remember that my God is a God of peace and order, and with His help, I can step out of the chaos and disorder, and rest in the inescapable love that God has for me.