We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday evening. And it was delightful.
The family set up a table in the pasture and we had a delicious dinner of steak, chicken, baked potatoes and all the fixins. We talked and laughed and told stories. I was sung to and given some thoughtful cards and gifts. A fabulous homemade tiramisu nearly put me into a coma of happiness.
I look at these beautiful young people and simply beam inside. They have turned out so great, and I am completely amazed by them. I love being their mom.
I wish sometimes that I could have been able to peek into the future and see this evening. Over the years, there have been far less stellar, and maybe even painful, Mother's Day celebrations in which I would have been grateful to see how my motherhood journey would turn out. There have been so many times along the way that I've simply been tired of the whole thing. Ready to throw in the towel, or at least considered taking a long vacation, alone.
I'm pretty glad I stuck it out, knowing what I know now.
Galatians 6:9 says this: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
We have reaped a harvest from the hard work of raising our family. It wasn't fun shelling out spankings like dollar bills or watching our two-year olds take tantrums to a whole new art form. I didn't enjoy saying "no" to PG-13 movies or separating arguments over who got more ice cream. The bedtime rituals that got stretched beyond my human tolerance level and the constant reminders to please, PLEASE pick up your stuff, wore me down, man. The road ahead seemed awfully long at times.
And now I find myself on a slippery, downhill slope toward the finish line, and it is bittersweet. I don't want it to end.
Are you at a place in parenting where the road ahead seems awfully long? Listen, don't give up. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep doing the hard stuff that will reap rewards later. And for all the tough things you deal with, look for the treasures along the way that will buoy your spirits and lighten your load.
Today's Small Thing is meant to lighten your load just a bit. Take a task that makes you weary and give yourself credit for doing it anyway. Coming off a Mother's Day high might be difficult, so let's ease back into real life with this one. Don't wanna follow through with the discipline you promised to give out? Sick of folding that last load of laundry? Tired of reading "just one more story?" Ready to throw up at the thought of another day of cajoling through chores and homework? Take heart, because today is the day you will not only get "skins on the wall" but points on the Tally Sheet!
POINTS: 50 for "not becoming weary in doing good" in the task of your choice.
If you aren't in a parenting season, simply put the points to another type of good deed.
Priscilla Shirer and her mom, Lois Evans, talked about Mother's Day here - love it!
