Reaping Unexpected Rewards

If you are a mother, you know that being a mother is one of the most rewarding experiences in life. There are beautiful moments that capture the dreams that you had as a little girl. There are moments of pure bliss and laughter....glimpses of heaven on earth.

But, let's be honest here. Many days are long.....sometimes hard....sometimes gross......sometimes mundane. At times, those mundane, seemingly never-ending days seem to come up more often than the days that are filled with creative, loving memories that will fill your later years with  joy in the remembering. It is far to easy to get bogged down in the cleaning of the tid- bits off the floor for the umpteenth time.....vacuuming up pet hair from the sofa or carpet......or making eggs for dinner because once again, there is no food in the frig.....or yelling at the kids (way too loudly and often, I might add) for squabbling amongst themselves when you had once dreamed of the little best friends that they would be to each other. That dream seemed to die the minute a younger sibling was plopped on the floor in the general vicinity of the older ones.

I do look for those jeweled moments during my day just to keep myself sane sometimes. Usually they occur in the darkness of the night, when the house is silent. Then the little cherubs sleep with their cheeks squished against their pillows and you smile, wondering how you could possibly love them more. I breathe in their sleeping scent and wish that it could be bottled. That's the scent of pure love right there.

But, during the day sometimes? I have to admit that an all-too-often tired mother, I feel like I can sometimes go an entire day without seeing a jewel of love. I sigh too much. I cringe too much. I yell too much. I roll my eyes too much. I yearn for night time too much so there can finally be some peace and quiet. I realize how selfish I am.....again. If you have never thought to yourself that you are the worst mother in the world at some point or another, I think you just MIGHT be abnormal.....even if we don't really believe that, we certainly feel that way sometimes.

So much teaching goes into these young years:

Teaching to obey
Teaching to respect other people
Teaching to love each other and others
Teaching to love God
Teaching to read
Teaching to be joyful
Teaching to apologize with humility
Teaching to forgive
Teaching to show mercy
Teaching to not tattle
Teaching to get along with difficult people
Teaching to be grateful
Teaching to have manners
Teaching to be content
Teaching to worship
Teaching to pray
Teaching to be gentlemen
Teaching to be ladies
Teaching to be healthy
Teaching to have a good self image
Teaching to be modest
Teaching to flush (and all those other fun bathroom rules)
Teaching moderation
Teaching the value of money
Teaching to be self-less
Teaching to have a servant's heart
Teaching consequences

Oh so many (way more than I listed)......this was just the last week or so in my house. So many teachable moments just seem to go in one ear and out the other. I feel like I repeat myself so often and nothing gets through.

But today. Today was such an amazing joy that I actually thought a thought that does not cross my mind very often:

I MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT.

I tell this simple story not to brag about what amazingly perfect kids that I have or what a great mom I am. I tell it because in the mundane of life we often forget that what we do and say DOES have an impact and that they will pick up more than we think they do. I tell this because sometimes you WILL get to reap unexpected rewards for your labors...and when you do it is simply a breath-taking and awe-inspiring moment that you will never forget as long as you live.

***

For 2 days I have had a terrible, terrible headache. My headaches originate in my sinuses and are likely due to me living in a very dry environment, with crazy desert blooms coming out every week or so. Sometimes these headaches are pretty debilitating, as was this one. I tossed and turned last night ALL. NIGHT. LONG. It made for a very difficult morning. I did not get out of my pj's until nearly noon. The kids were happy watching TV and honestly, with the headache that I had, the more TV for them the better for me. I am being honest here. Some days are like this.

In spite of this pain I was able to work on the never-ending task of laundry. I spent 2 hours folding laundry and all my piles were laid out in the living room. Before the very long task of putting everything away I asked the kids to please just go in the other room and play because I needed to close my eyes. I laid back in my chair and attempted a rest, just praying I would get SOME relief.

About 20 minutes later, I felt a little arm on my leg. It was my 10 year old. She had laid out some pillows on the ground, put some soft instrumental music on and told me that she had been researching massage for headaches with my 5 year old and they were ready to begin.

So, I obeyed and laid on the floor. Ellie started on my face, using pressure points that she had read about. Tyler took my feet and began rubbing them while my precious Trenton (3) took my arms and began lightly stroking them. Every once in a while Ellie would run back to the computer while she covered me up and told me to relax, while she looked for the next thing. She got my oils and began rubbing them in my temples, my neck and even had me breathe some of them. "Alright breathe in, really deeply. Now breathe out." The boys kept moving to different limbs and rubbed them nearly the entire time.

This went on for 20 minutes. I thought we were finished when Ellie then brought out a "healing drink" that she had found a recipe for. It included fresh squeezed lemon, water, a dash of sugar for taste and some of my oils. It was so delicious and hydrated me. It was then I found that my boys had put away many of my laundry piles so I would not have to.

At one point I opened my eyes while my children were pouring themselves into me. They sought to gain nothing but my comfort.....and tears came to my eyes. Their servant's hearts were shining through in the most beautiful way. This taught ME a lesson in serving.

Like the amazing scent of sleeping, angelic children, I would love to bottle this feeling of being cared for by the most precious souls on earth to me. I realized that my efforts have not been in vain. Life seems endless at times and mundane and even hard sometimes. But it is not. These babies are TRULY my gift. My soul was refreshed.

***

By the way......the headache COMPLETELY disappeared and has not returned. I am still shocked by this. I guess I have a new remedy and I can not wait to try it out again!