Through it

I love being a mom.  I really do.  But in the thick of it right now, it can really feel like I'm stuck in the weeds.   In a world that generally looks for ways to compromise, to give up, or to make things easier - and I love an good, easy, convenient way out- sometimes what God really wants is to make me stronger.  What comes to mind is the line repeated through Michael Rosen's much beloved picture book called" I'm Going on A Bear Hunt" which reads: "We can't go over it, we can't go under it, Oh No!  We've got to go through it." These days of motherhood, particularly on the days when there is no easy way out and the only way to bedtime is through the messes and the madness, feel like a fast track to sanctification, if there is one.

"Gratitude, laughter, joy, faith, obedience – these are not seasonal things that should make short appearances in a Christian home. These are year round crops and your home ought to be the perfect environment for them. But many of us have gotten caught up in the impression that these things are flowers that we want to get so we can put them in a vase on the mantle. The truth is our job as christian wives and mothers is the job of faithfulness. The job of trusting God and rolling our sleeves up. Our work is in a farm that grows the flowers, not with the woman who waits for a delivery at the door. God gave us soil. He gave us oh so much fertilizer. He gives us water and sun and He gives us the seeds. But the work is for us to do. When we are faithful these flowers surround us and sometimes this beauty is so fragrant and so rich that it threatens to overwhelm us. And sometimes it is just rows and rows of soil and seeds, and the sky is dark, and the day is long. Our lives aren’t supposed to be either all flowers beautifully arranged or all manure piles waiting to go in. We are to know our way around it all, and be faithful in our work around it all. When we pursue obedience, God will give us the increase."

-Rachel Jankovic

SaveSaveSaveSave