Top 10 list of things I will never understand as a mom…

10.  How can one child wear 5 outfits in 1 day?

9.  Why do males, young and old, throw socks 6 inches in front of the hamper even if I continue to move the hamper closer to the stool they are shooting from?

8.  Why did I wish away late nights in the rocking chair rather than sitting an extra 30 minutes?

7.  Who in the world ever thought white baseball or softball pants were a good idea?

6.  Why am I the only one who can find the ketchup in the refrigerator?

5.  What kind of a time warp do we enter the first day of 7^th grade?

4.  Why it is so important to me that the house be picked up rather than sitting on the porch with my husband and the kids?

3.  Why I am personally offended when I get a bad grade on my 3^rd grader’s science project?

2.  How do stuffed animals multiply and how do our children know when we have removed 2 of them from the back corner of the closest to give to charity?

1.  Where has the time gone?

 

I would like to thank all of you moms for the time, effort, emotions, laughter, and tears that you have sacrificially poured out on your children and your families.  You are certainly the glue that holds your family together.

I also want to say to you that you are just the right mom for your children.  It is no accident that the Lord gave you such amazing children to nurture, to train, and to equip.  You do not need to compare your children to other people’s children…they are not supposed to be just like everyone else.

As a matter of fact, you have been trying to teach them to be themselves and not to follow the crowd…and then you cry into your pillow at night because they are different than their peers.  Praise God for that…that is what we are after, uniquely gifted powerful warriors for the Kingdom carrying just the right slingshot and stones for the callings the Lord has placed on them.

You also don’t need to compare yourself to other moms…no one in all the world has the understanding that you have for your children.  No one but you knows what kind of day they had just by the way the front door opens in the afternoon.  No one other than you notices that sparkle in her eye when her big brother offers to take her to get an ice cream.  No one other than you knows just the right thing to say when he misses the basket that would have won the game.  No one other than you has all of the “firsts” and the “lasts” etched on their hearts.

And no one has prayed for them more than you…You are the perfect mom for your children.

I was spending time with the Lord recently, and I was just visiting with Him about how I wish I had truly understood how fast the time would go.  You see, we go from begging Him to quickly move us through the potty training and sleepless night phase, to staying up all night counting how many weeks we have left with them under our roofs, to have all the talks we hoped to have, and the memories we wanted to make before they are gone.

And the Lord showed me a picture…I saw us on a track with our little toddlers as they took their first steps, just a few at a time.

Then I saw us with them when they were 5 to 8-years-old when we could run a little ways together, but we would always let them win.

Then I saw us with them when they were 10 to 14…when we were literally racing.  Giving everything we had, no doubt, but we were still able to edge them out.

I saw us coming around the final corner and into the last straight, when as they were 18 to 21, we were trying hard to keep the pace and stay in our lane.

At every stage there was a lot of laughter, and then those moments when they would fall down and skin their knee.

Then as we approached the finish line…as they become adults…I noticed starting blocks, only in their lane.

They are off on a new race of their own.  Through tear filled eyes, we must purpose to celebrate the joys, the trials, and a job well done.

We may be several paces behind, but we will always be there…cheering them on, thrilled for all of the places they will go, humbled to watch them become all He whispered to us they’d be, and blessed to be their mom.

Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Wherever you are in your race…it is a beautiful time.  It is a time to treasure.  Keep running your race.  You are an inspiration to me.

My love,