Red bumps

     It's so easy to complain.

     Yesterday,  I was feeling a little frustrated by the lack of progress that I've made in unpacking this past week.  Most of my free time has been taken up because of the little red bumps showing up on my family.  We suspect it is fleas at this point, and have taken measures to make it as hard as possible for them to multiply.  This has meant a lot of vacuuming in our house full of carpet (along with mattresses), washing everything with borax that is washable,  and deep freezing the rest for close to a week...there are too many stuffed animals to do at one time, so it also meant packing them up out of the house to freeze in batches.
     Those of you who know me,  know how natural I try to keep everything.  I'm not a big fan of chemicals especially while I'm pregnant. I even abstained from nail polish during my first two pregnancies because it contained dibutyl phthalate (which has since been removed, but was supposed to cause birth defects)...so the thought of failing is scary for me. Flea bombs would be difficult to accept. That would be the next step though.  I think I'm doing the right things, but the proof is in the pudding.
     Needless to say, I've been a bit tense about it. First of all, we weren't even sure what was causing the bumps earlier in the week, and quite honestly we could still be wrong. Thursday night when my girls described bugs in their bedrooms that fit a fleas description, I was initially relieved.  However,  then I realized that it meant spending all Friday morning cleaning, washing, and packing. I was a bit grumpy at first. Then, I began purposefully thanking God for the nice Dyson vacuum to suck up all the fleas. As I put all the linens and pillows in my new washing machine, I thanked God that my dear hubby bought me a wonderful new machine with the largest capacity possible,  so it only took three loads to do all the linens instead if 7 or 8 loads that it would have taken my machine at the old house. I even began praying for God to supernaturally zap the bugs I'd missed. 
     I started singing a song about it to the tune of "Today is the Day" by Lincoln Brewster (much to the chagrin of my older girls, who roll their eyes and giggle when I alter familiar words). My little ones soon joined in though.
     Still, yesterday I felt discouraged looking at the stacks of boxes I'd hoped to get to this week. When one of my girls asked why I was yelling yesterday at them for taking so long to get out to the car to take them for a play date, I realized it wasn't so much about them as it was the fact that I'd been too focused on work and not allowing enough play. I was also a little frustrated with how rough this week had been. I felt exhausted.
     I read "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young yesterday, and I truly felt like Jesus was speaking to me. It read, " Expect to encounter adversity in your life, remembering that you live in a deeply fallen world. Stop trying to find a way that circumvents difficulties. The main problem with an easy life is that it masks your need for Me. When you became a Christian, I infused My very Life into you, empowering you to live on a supernatural plane by depending on Me. Anticipate coming face to face with impossibilities: situations totally beyond your ability to handle."
     This past week has made me even more aware of the general challenges of life that I will continue to face as long as I continue to live, and my need to relax and trust God to get me through the challenges including little red bumps. Also, did I mention that God has allowed me to escape unscathed from all but two little bumps while I've watched everyone else get somewhere between 5 and 50?
     It's so easy to complain, but the truth is God is good.