haiku

I'm currently sitting in the Calgary airport by a window overlooking the tarmac, sunshine streaming upon me.  We are on our way to Saskatoon, the funnel of the whirlwind which is my life is drawing closer by the second.  can i give you a quick re-cap of the last 24hours?
proofed the feature sheet for our home, returned from a parent-teacher interview to find the "for sale" sign up on the front lawn.  cleaned all the bathrooms, finished laundry, kitchen floor, etc..  at 2:30 i was looking ahead of schedule.
Olivia passes me an envelope in the car.
she has lice.
panic attack.
strip the beds, grab toys, towels, coats and shove them in the washer/dryer.  get lice shampoo.  ditch the tastey dinner i was going to make and opt for sliders/steak (but homemade fries!).  i figure the baby carrots consumed as afternoon snack will count as the dinner vegetable.
spray, bath, shampoo and comb the hell out of my kids hair.  (if "hell' is a bit strong, insert "lice larvae").
talk to my mother-in-law who is about to care for my children for the next 6 days with fear and trepidation, only to be received with laughter and compassion.  praise the Lord for Beverly Anderson!!!
remake the beds, let go of spot-checking the carpets and walls.
pack.
fall into bed (after finishing "pretty in pink") at 11:20. not too shabby.  up at 6:15 and out the door by 7:35. my house is immaculate.  my children are (please God!) lice-free.  my marriage is intact.  the whirlwind has not beaten me yet!

i read a very short Psalm yesterday that said "i will quiet my soul", which is an interesting thought - that i could actually have control over quieting that part of me which seems assaulted by emotions and motivations and fears that feel out of my control.  So, yesterday after the "envelope" (which, incidentally Olivia passed to me like it was a precious gift, "I'm the ONLY one that got one mom!") i walked around my home commanding my soul to settle down.  and it worked!  I mean, true, my husband looked at my face and said "let's go to the library kids!" and so thoughtfully disappeared for a few hours (don't sit on the couches at the Cloverdale library for a few days).  but, this focus on the state of my soul, and this mental work of quieting down, of trusting, of leaving my life in God's overly capable hands was truly a life-preserver in the tumultuous ocean.  or, to continue the metaphor, a basement in the whirlwind.

this past weekend i made a new friend.  I  was at RockRidge Canyon Resort - a Young Life camp, which is GORGEOUS with some very dear friends, and i got to meet some fantastic ladies.  I told a few that I was going off one morning to find myself and write myself down on paper in preparation for interviews this week in Saskatoon.  that evening Christy asked me if I did indeed find myself and I said, "yes, but it only took me one page to write down.  what does that mean"  she answered "it means you're a poet.  you're so in tune with yourself that you could distill yourself down to a haiku."
so i did.  here it is.

Janet.
I want to love you
and show you God's beauty, but
what's your name again?

pray for us in Saskatoon.
I was kidding about the library couches.  they sat on the floor.