So here I am, waking up Easter morning, April 24th, 2011.
My day started like a normal, typical day. The baby was up for the day at 4 AM, and after I played with her for a little while, I turned on her cartoons that she loves to watch. Then I went and ate a bowl of Cheerio's for breakfast. As I sit eating breakfast every morning, I love looking out the living room window at the outline of the beautiful mountains against the darkness. As the sun starts coming up more and more, I love to watch the progress it makes.....the way it lights different clouds the higher it goes....the way it casts bright heavenly beams over the tops of clouds....the way it wakes up the world and makes everything come alive. There are many mornings I wish I could be on the top of a mountain and watch the world wake up every day....out in the peaceful, amazing, gorgeous, perfect wilderness. Even though that would seem perfect....I then remember that I get to wake up and share almost every morning sunrise with my daughter, Journee. There is nothing in this world that is sweeter than sharing the tender moments of a sunrise and a waking world....with a sweet little baby whose eye's are wide with excitement as she see's the world getting lighter and lighter. She also loves watching the birds and the cats outside having fun as the sun rises. My daughter Madison is usually getting ready for school while the sun is rising....AND she's almost 12 now, so she thinks she has to sleep all morning, on weekends....LOL....but the same tender moments that I get to have with Journee now....I had those with Madison too when she was tiny like that. Also, there are many nights when Madison comes and tells me that she'll be gone for awhile....I ask her where she's going....and she says that she's taking the four wheeler out with her camera so that she can take pictures of the birds and of the sunset. Makes me feel like I have done ok in teaching her to love the beauty of our world. :)
I love to watch my children. If only they could know the power they give me. The happienss. The complete joy. My insane urge to protect them from any and all harm.
Through my children, I FIND LIFE. We all have days where our souls, hearts & minds struggle....where we are dragged down into the darkness. My children take that darkness away. They remind me to look at the world from their child eye's and in a simple manner, rather than looking at the world through the eye's of an adult that views the world as complicated.
A butterfly, a kiss, a smile, a kitten's whiskers, a kite flying in the sky, the soft lush green grash that tickles your feet, running through a water hose, climbing a tree, a puddle, a pile of leaves, a shiny stone, having a picnic, watching fireflies glow.....Ahhhh, there are so many simple things to enjoy.
My children show me the world in awesome bright colors. They show me a world full of endless passion, fun, adventure, dreams & possiblities. In my children's minds and hearts, there are no barriers, no prejudices, no hate, no shackles, no preconceptions....nothing other than love. With my hand in my children's hands, my eyes can suddenly see that all doors are open. Everything is new and exciting and holds the potential for joy, if we will allow it.
I love that children take the world as it comes, embracing each moment and each experience with open arms and an open mind. Their joy is contagious. It infects me. It infects everyone around them. It brings many smiles and much, much laughter.
My children give me the courage to be myself, to try new things & to open my heart to all the possibilites in my own life. They remind me what it feels like to be truly young at heart, believing that the world was made just for me and I was made to bring magic to it....just like they were. THEY ARE MAGICAL and they are my biggest success!!!!!!!
I love them. How blessed I feel to be able to spend every day of my life with them....and how lucky I feel that I was given the greatest blessing of being able to go through the magic of giving birth to them & raising them!!!!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Invisible Mother
I received this beautiful story awhile back from my friend, Misty.....and I wanted to share it with all of you!!! I think it's such a beautiful story. Love you all. :)
Goldie
Invisible Mother
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was Almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.
Thank you to all the Moms who are looking down and smiling at the cathedrals they helped to build.
The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.
To all the wonderful mothers out there!! God bless and keep you.
Goldie
Invisible Mother
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was Almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.
Thank you to all the Moms who are looking down and smiling at the cathedrals they helped to build.
The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.
To all the wonderful mothers out there!! God bless and keep you.
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