Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the septic line that would not clear
‘Twas in January, cold and bleak,
The toilets did begin to leak.
They wouldn’t flush, they couldn’t drain
Poor father moaned and racked his brain…
The sink backed up, the tub did too
And worst of all, the mother knew
The lament of a laundry room aflood,
And a mess that far exceeded the mud
She’s much accustomed to on the farm
But now the family’s sounded the alarm:
The septic is backed up! The septic is backed up!
To arms..to arms…the septic is backed up!
So sorry…I’m waxing poetic over that instrument of supreme torture formerly known as the septic system. It is so hard to be “grace filled” in the midst of this mess. God wills it, so it must be. But…I must admit that I’m 
just a mite put out over the plans which have been foiled due to this latest domestic disturbance.
Plans? Are you laughing? Yes…I still have the audacity to have plans of my own. You see…I have surgery coming up in a week and a half. Two weeks minimum of recuperation time before I can do any kind of work and probably more like a month before I’m completely back to normal. All on the heels of Christmas and an extended break. So I’m planning. Laundry: wash it all. Cabinets: stock them. Freezer: prepare meals for the “down time.” School: outline a clear plan of action allowing for as much independent work as possible. Self: videos, books, soothing beverages and soups. And rest, thanks to the loving assistance of husband and mother-in-law.
Those were my plans. And sometimes plans go awry. Just like the septic.
The new plan: spend this Saturday sorting through a sodden, disgusting mass of laundry that had been sorted and bagged for transport to the laundry mat. All…wet. And, well…yeah. They smell really, really bad. Would you want to take them to a public laundry mat? Would you want to be the one in line behind me to use the machine after I did? I sure wouldn’t! I may just have to pitch those things that can be pitched and hang a few things on the ice covered clothes line until the problem is resolved.
There’s still the rest of the list…but I’m losing steam. I’m like that crazy woman who cleans her house before the housekeeper comes. I’m trying so hard to make sure there’s no work left for those who wish to work for me. I think I’m being asked to let go, but it’s really hard to do that. To be vulnerable. To need help. To let others…do.
Ah, well…when life throws muddy water at you…make a mud pie!
Think I’ll go do that now. In my laundry room.
Blessings,
I am a traditional Catholic homeschooling mother of 9 children, married for 30 years to the most patient and sainted man. As converts to Catholicism in 1991, our family has only recently discovered the beauty and full expression of our beliefs in the timeless liturgy of antiquity, the Extraordinary Form also commonly referred to as the Traditional Latin Mass. An avid knitter, I also enjoy gardening, reading and immersing myself in the everyday graces of my vocation.
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[...] A tale of woe… St. Thomas Aquinas – Patron of Sacred Heart Academy – Pray For Us! A Student's Prayer Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, origin of all being, graciously let a ray of your light penetrate the darkness of my understanding. Take from me the double darkness in which I have been born, an obscurity of sin and ignorance. Give me a keen understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally. Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm. Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in the completion. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. —St. Thomas Aquinas Litany Of Humility O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved… From the desire of being extolled … From the desire of being honored … From the desire of being praised … From the desire of being preferred to others… From the desire of being consulted … From the desire of being approved … From the fear of being humiliated … From the fear of being despised… From the fear of suffering rebukes … From the fear of being calumniated … From the fear of being forgotten … From the fear of being ridiculed … From the fear of being wronged … From the fear of being suspected … That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be esteemed more than I … That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease … That others may be chosen and I set aside … That others may be praised and I unnoticed… That others may be preferred to me in everything… That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should… All things tea… [...]