You know you're a mom when...

The inside of your dryer looks like this....


Yes, that is blue crayon in my dryer. Yes, it did get all over a load of laundry. Yes, it took over an hour to get it out of the dryer. And yes, I struggled to maintain my attitude of thankfulness during that hour!!:)

However, I can say that this whole counting of my blessings and writing out of all the things I am grateful for has started to change this heart of mine. In the midst of cleaning the blue crayon I started with the simple things....thank you Lord that we have clothes. Thank you Lord that we have a dryer and I don't have to hang all my clothes out.

It was in that simple act of thankfulness that the Lord began to speak. I felt Him showing me that the crayon was what He wanted my life to be like. That crayon left an impression on my dryer and everything it touched. There were lots of streaks that I was able to wipe away but my dryer will have an eternal blue hue as evidence of it's visit to our laundry. God desires to use us like that. He desires to use our lives as evidence of Him. He desires to use us to make an impression for Him that effects others eternally.

All of this sounded so good and warm and fuzzy to me. I was thanking God for His little reminder and started pondering ways to be more like the crayon. But then the weekend got busy and I didn't think about the crayon again until I read this in Beth Moore's Daniel bible study...

WE WILL DO IT ON PURPOSE OR WE WON'T DO IT ALL

Ouch...strong words that stung (and are still stinging) this heart of mine.

I also love this quote from Tom Rainer..."It is a sin it good when God has called us to be great".

Truth be told...I will never be great by accident. I will not be more like my God and leave lasting impressions of Him just by mere coincidence.

I am challenged. Challenged to evaluate this life of mine and figure out what I need to be doing on purpose as child of God, a wife, a mother, a friend, and more.