Last week Friday was a busy day.  It was my daughter’s eleventh birthday.  She was having 8 girls overnight for a slumber party.  With the 8 guests and her “almost twin” sister, that meant ten 5th grade girls.

The party was going to be in the basement.  It’s perfect for a slumber party.  Wide open spaces, a mini kitchenette, TV with Wii and Netflix, and an air hockey table.  However, the boys’ bedroom is open to the rest of the basement.

The boys were not impressed that all these girls were invading their space (although they perked up a bit when they found out they got to go overnight to Grandma’s house).  I asked the boys to clean their room in preparation for the party.  The girls would be sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor, and didn’t need to see the piles of junk stuff under their bed.  I told them if they didn’t clean it, I would.  And if I did, I’d be throwing lots of stuff away.

Well, apparently that incentive didn’t work.  Oh well.  A couple times a year it’s good for Mom to dig out the kids’ rooms anyway.

But it makes me crabby.

Cuz it’s kinda disgusting.  Ugh.

So I wasn’t in the best of moods to begin with.

I decided if I was going to do it, I would do it well.  I moved dressers and cleaned shelves and closets and tossed.  It just so happened when I was moving a dresser and the bed that I noticed the carpet was damp.

Well, that’s odd.

Then I went through the arduous process of “do I call a plumber or wait for hubby to come home?”  It hasn’t rained in ages so it had to be a leak.  Decisions decisions.  It was just damp so I thought I’d wait.  But then I wavered and decided to call.  They were too busy, could it wait till Monday?  Well, it seemed to be a slow leak somewhere so I guess so.

Then a little while later I went back to the same area.  My tennis shoe went “squish” on the carpet.

Ughhhhhhhhhh!

Ok, call another plumber.  But first, shut off the water!

Now I was CRABBY.  I had stuff to do.  I had cleaning and laundry to do.  I hadn’t showered yet.  And now I had no water. Grrrrr.  Whine, complain.  Text my friend and tell her how horrible I had it.  Have all these girls coming over and now I had a leak right where they were going to be, I didn’t know when it would be fixed, and I had no water.  Whine, complain. Growl.  I was NOT in the mood.

Well, it all worked out.  Another plumber was able to come late afternoon.  And he had it fixed before the girls came.  I did manage to find a morsel of gratitude.  If I hadn’t been working down there, half the room could have been squishy carpet before we noticed.  Now it was only a small area that I could clean up fairly easily.

But still.  Yuck.

The night went well.  About 11 pm, as I was keeping an eye on crazy, fun-loving 5th grade girls, it hit me.

I.  Am. A. Brat.

Wow.  A colossal brat.

I am a spoiled brat, to be exact.

Women around the world walk miles for dirty, grungy, contaminated water.

Clear, clean fresh water is found in my house with the turn of a knob. And I'm whining.

I do this a lot.  Oh I may not always grump out loud, but I complain inside.

“I have to get groceries again?  Oh how I hate that job.”

Seriously, Carey?  You have the means to purchase them, and there is more food available at one of the local grocery stores than whole villages see.

“The laundry never ends.  I can never catch up.”

Yep.  How about we each just have one set of clothes that aren’t even in good condition.  We’ll just wash them when we bathe in the dirty river.

“I have had sick kids for 14 days straight!”

Overall my kids are healthy, and there is really no risk of them dying from easily preventable diseases.  Diarrhea and a stomach bug are uncomfortable and inconvenient, but not life-threatening where I live.

“Another trip to the doctor.”

The doctor is minutes away.  Not a half days journey.  And medicine is readily available.

Lord, forgive me.  Help me not to be a brat, but have a grateful heart even when I feel impatience coming on.

Will you join me in NOT being a brat?  Cuz I bet I’m not alone.  And please, if you see or hear me being a brat, gently remind me how blessed I am. 

“This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!” Psalm 118:24 KJV