The Missing Hour (Keys, Papers, and Letting Go of Perfect) — Part Two

We discussed the missing hour earlier, but I wanted to elaborate and share what happens at 10:00 AM — The Hour After the Missing Hour part two of The Missing Hour (Keys, Papers, and Letting Go of Perfect) because as a mom we all know perfect isn’t going to happen or is it.

There’s a strange stillness that settles in after a chaotic morning — not silence, because this house doesn’t do silence, but a softer kind of quiet. The kind that happens inside your chest when the adrenaline finally let’s go and your brain finally stops yelling. Almost a time we can breathe. Or can we?

I stood in the kitchen, last night’s Sonic cup sweating on the counter, hair doing whatever it wanted, like i just don’t care. Trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing before the world caught fire. The keys were found. The papers were gathered. The crisis had passed. But I still felt like I was vibrating.

So, I did the only thing I could: I breathed. Not deeply. Not gracefully. Just enough to remind myself I was still here. And in that tiny breath, I felt God whisper, “You made it. Keep going.” It wasn’t poetic. It wasn’t dramatic. It was just… steady. And steady was enough.

How did your day go? Did you survive?

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates