No one should ever see a grown woman driving through town slurping down a child’s squeezy applesauce. No mother should ever have to lock herself in the closet in order to eat the last slice of cheesecake in peace and quiet. And yet, I am embarrassed to say, I have done both. I never knew growing up on a small ranch would help me in the child rearing arena. When Eva was a baby, changing diapers felt more like branding calves than motherhood. Some days, as a mother, locating a hair brush to calm the mess and clothes that do not have finger-paint stains on them, can seem to be unattainable goals. Driving down the road with a two-year old IN YOUR LAP because she has shoved cat food so far up her nose and it is now located somewhere in the nasal passageway, will have you frantically trying to get to the nearest doctor. A set up like this will make any mother feel less than gorgeous.
I remember when Eva was born. It upset my schedule and organization; My way of doing things. No one bothered to tell me life was no longer going to be about me. Oh, I guess people did, in their own way, but it never fully registered. I remember one day I was so frustrated that things were not perfect. There was always something to wash, dry and fold. I shared my feelings with a dear friend who is an older lady. Her response changed my view permanently, in her Portuguese accent she said, “Stop worrying about the house so much. The baby is going to grow up and the house will still be here, with all the laundry and dishes to go with it, but the baby will be gone.” Truer words have never been spoken to me. Life was about someone else now. She showed me in that statement how to give and serve someone else other than myself. We are all selfish by nature. Anything that disrupts what we deem as normal becomes a nuisance. Being a mother has taught me that I will never “get” without giving to it. It is in giving that we receive. It is where we find fulfillment.
Raising a family and making sure they have what they need is the highest calling of any mother. It sometimes can be a very thankless position but it is an irreplaceable role that God gave to a mother. Hand prints all over the walls, dishes piled in the sink, toys scattered from here to yon, and a husband that desperately loves you, makes being a wife and mother simply perfect. I have learned that clothes are made to get dirty and houses are built to be lived in. After all, it’ll wash.
The cleaning and the scrubbing will wait till tomorrow
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep
Happy Mother’s Day
“Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, he praises her.” Proverbs 31:28
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