Notes From My Mother Heart

These three--

can you just see their personalities in this one?

I feel so grateful to be their mother, teacher, friend, confidant, guidance counselor, and fellow adventurer in this thing called life. 

We have crazy days, silly days, wild days, calm days, quiet days, loud days, sick days, outside days, inside days, soothing days, dancing days, organizing days, cleaning days, creating days, building days, questioning days, answering days, and balancing days. Most days--truly--have elements of all of those in perfectly small--haphazardly packaged moments. 

All of which, rolled together,  give us the once-in-a-lifetime experience of NOW. Together NOW. Growing NOW. Learning NOW. Being NOW.

I am busy, tired, overwhelmed, and feel like I'm not doing enough on most days.

And then there are these glimpses, I am leaning next to something and I look up--and I see them. I see them growing. I see what they are learning. I see who they are becoming. I see who they will be and I feel my heart will just burst with amazement, love, and awe. These are children of God. He loves them and He trusts me to love them. His guidance & these kinds of glimpses give me strength, hope, and renewed energy to do this mothering job.

And so I am like everyone else--imperfectly fumbling through my days, trying to hold it together and snapping photos of sticky smiles, little hands, and lego creations in between.

 I am grateful for the challenging days. I am grateful for the shimmering glimpses. I am grateful for the examples of women who have inspired me in their strength, wisdom, discipline, and creative simplicity.

I am grateful for my husband who sees more in me than I do and cheers me on with confidence. I am grateful for his example of love, hard work (seriously, I don't know many people that really get things done the way he does), and can-do-itness. I am grateful for the consistency in which he serves me (his love language=acts of service) and by which my life is made so much better.

I am grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who reaches out to me, often through others who are abundantly willing to give of their time and energy. His love his real and I am stronger when I rely on Him.

 I am learning every day--right along with my littles--how to do this thing called life. Our ups and downs are just part of the journey--and what a glorious ride it is!