You might be a mom to small children if.......

You might be a mother to small children if you ever wake up in the morning and immediately wish it were bedtime. Some days I just want to crawl into a dark hole somewhere and hide. But it wouldn't do any good. The children are hide and go seek experts. They would find me. Someone would come to me with an urgent need, a thirst for water, an unjust acquisition of a Nerf fun, a poke in the eye. They always need me. And therein is the crux of the matter.

One such day, I was feeling overwhelmed, drowning in Mt Laundry. I was sporting a not so pleasant attitude when I felt like the Lord told me, "You are not a victim of your circumstances." Really? Who? Me? Because it feels like I am. The baby won't let me sleep, the laundry keeps coming at me like a relentless ninja and, everyone continues with the non-stop whining. Are you sure I'm not a victim of the laundry ninja at least?

Then I remembered what I had been studying in Danny Silk's book about choice.  I have a choice. It hit me then. I really did have a choice. I didn't have to stay in my house caring for my children. I could leave. I could get a job and get a daycare  and a cleaning service and I could never have to clean my floors or do my laundry. Sure I might go into debt or rarely see my children, but it was a real option. I could also run away, to where no one would ever find me, for some reason Guadalajara comes to mind. I could leave my family and never come back.

 Granted, abandonment and debt didn't look so appealing, but they were choices. Every time I decide to battle Mt. Laundry or mediate Nerf conflicts I am choosing to do what I love. I get to choose. And you do too. Your choices may look different than mine, but they are still there just the same.

Mamas, we are not a victims of tragic circumstances (as Anne might say). We are powerful daughters of Christ who get to willingly take up our cross (or basket of laundry) and follow him. With every snack we give to a hungry child (who doesn't even deserve it because they refused to eat sufficient quantities at meal time), we are serving Christ. Every long sought after missing sippy cup that is found, refilled, and given again to a thankless toddler is not just that.  It is us choosing to be present with our families, to serve, to love, to give and to grow. It is a gift we give to our Lord and Savior, even if it does come wrapped in a coating of oatmeally snot and banana shmangle.

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Mt 25:40

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