Motherhood … and Life

Would it be all right with you if I just talked to the moms today?

Would you continue to read this even though you are well passed the stage of 2:00 a.m. colic … meltdowns in Target … and mountains of science projects?

Or, perhaps you have never been a mom and are tempted to hit “delete” this week.

Can I just say, “Please don’t”?!

I think that we can all learn from the heartache and the victories that are unique to motherhood.

Even if God has not chosen for you to be a mom in His divine and perfect plan, the lessons that are discovered in the field of motherhood are applicable in many other fields of life.

So, read on, dear one, read on …

I’ve always told young moms that the greatest fulfillment in life comes from being a mother and that the greatest frustrations in life are experienced from the wonderful calling of motherhood.

Motherhood gives a woman the daring and refining opportunity to die to self.

Daily.

Paul must have been talking about mothers when he said,  “I die daily.” – I Corinthians 15:31

Agonizing day after long day after unending day … mothers die to comfort … to sleep … to cleanliness … to quiet moments.

“Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands. Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God. Be a person in whom they can have faith. When you are old, nothing else you’ve done will have mattered as much.” – Elisabeth Elliot

The world often minimizes the importance of motherhood and portends that there are other things that are of a greater value to a woman’s personhood. If there is a greater treasure or calling than motherhood, I haven’t discovered it yet after more than six decades of living!

Money is certainly not more important than time with my children.

The commodities that hold eternal value to a mother are those pure gold moments such as rocking and singing … giggling and cuddling … praying and discipling.

The feeling of accomplishment that climbing the corporate ladder presents pales in comparison to the joy of reading “Pat the Bunny” to a toddler … or “Green Eggs and Ham” to a pre-schooler … or “Farmer Boy” to an 8-year-old.

Success to a mom is when a baby sleeps through the night … or when a 3 year old is finally potty trained … or when that hormone-driven middle school child begins to speak respectfully.

So Moms … carry on! Love those little ones!

Enjoy the days of grilled cheese sandwiches and temper tantrums!

Delight in the moments of snuggling and wrangling a 2-year-old into a car seat!

These days will never come again so give it all you’ve got!

Keep these momentary frustrations in perspective and remind yourself often that millions of women have done it before you and have lived to tell about it!

“Motherhood is a choice you make every day to put someone else’s happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing, even when you’re not sure what the right thing is, and to forgive yourself over and over and over again for doing everything “wrong”.” – Donna Ball

Listen … for those of you who are in the trenches of motherhood today … I am here to tell you that your children will never remember if you lost your baby weight or not … they won’t remember if dinner was Pinterest-worthy … and they certainly won’t remember if the laundry was carefully folded or not.

What they will remember is the laughter that echoed through the rooms of their childhood home … the prayers that were prayed beside their bed at night … the games that were played around the kitchen table … and the books that were read lovingly together.

They will remember you.

I reminded myself often during the baby years … and the toddler years … and the homework years … and the teenage years … that I would never again have this unique day with my children. I knew that when I woke up in the morning, my children would be a little bigger than they were today … a little older … a littler more independent.

I knew that each “today” was a gift I had been given by the Creator of time to nurture the little lives that my husband and I had created from our love.

I listened … really listened … to their voices and to their hearts.

I observed … intently observed … the expressions on their faces and the activities that delivered unmatched delight.

I knew that every “today” would fly away with the evening sunset.

I was painfully aware of the fact that in every today there was a good-bye to something unspeakably precious that would never come my way again.

“Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God may not be something you do but someone you raise.” – Andy Stanley

Motherhood … and life … is all about the fulfillment that dying to self brings.

Motherhood … and life … is all about giving a love that you never thought was possible.

Motherhood … and life … is all about discovering the joy that an ordinary day holds. 

So … live well, my friends.  Live well!

Thanks for listening to my heart this week.  As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me.  And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!