Brain Melt

I know that you've all heard of a brain freeze. That's when you eat something cold too quickly. Some of you have even heard of brain drain, as in 'fetal brain drain'. That's when you're pregnant and can't remember anything. What I'm talking about is brain melt.

Brain melt is the phenomenon that occurs when you exert yourself mentally and/or emotionally for too long a period of time. For me, this happens after homeschooling sometimes. Today was one of those days. The kids were hyper. They didn't fight against me as much as interrupt me. A lot.

We were finishing up a study on Jules Vern and introducing Werhner von Braun. Maggie and Ty were really excited about Jules Vern. They recognized the titles to some of his books. Plus, Maggie "admired his imagination". Ty loved the story of Werhner von Braun. For those who don't know who he is... he was the first director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. He was born in Poland and then forced by Hitler to develop the V-2 rocket during WWII. Ty's favorite part was when von Braun hid his research in a mine shaft and stole a train to get his research team out of Germany. SO..... needless to say, it was a good day for learning.

The only problem with all that was, I was the one trying to curb their enthusiasm enough to finish their work! They were chasing rabbits and laughing and shooting Nazis. But, stupid me, we still had math to do. I should have done math first.

Anyway, by the time we were done with school for the day, my brain was oozing out of my ears. I tried to stem the flow with cotton balls but it didn't help. All I wanted to do was veg out on the couch with a pillow over my face for about two hours. But Brody got up from his nap.... with a dirty diaper. (can't wait for that boy to potty train!) Gracie was hungry. Ty was thirsty and there was no kool-aid. And Chris wanted to go to town for various reasons.

So I did what any woman would do, I laid the meat out for supper, got the kids in the van, and went to town. I'm glad now that I did but at the time, not so much. I thought I was really subtle about my feelings, but amazingly, Chris saw right through me... in the form of a question, "What is wrong with you?" To which I replied with the clever and godly, "Nothing. Leave me alone." How could he see through that? He must be psychic.

As with all my snits, we hashed it out. I was given time to be still and pray. He fielded the kids' questions while I leaned my seat back and thought happy thoughts. In the midst of my quietness, I heard God's voice. Does God hum? I think so. He didn't really tell me anything. It was more like He just wanted me to know that He was there too. And believe it or not, my spirit quieted before Him and peace was restored. Not to my life, just my brain.