My Mother's Day

I am particularly joyful this Mother's Day. Not only am I surrounded by three adoring little boys, but I also am still lucky enough to have my own mother here on this Earth. I also have two wonderful mother-in-laws. 

My boys, Mother's Day 2015: ages 6, 4 and 21 months.

I am slowly and painfully (sometimes) seeing what God wants from me as a mother. At times I realize that the more I yearn and seek time for myself, or grumble because I'm unable to cook dinner or put makeup on without a struggle, I'm forgetting one important thing: life isn't easy. Not always. I was never guaranteed that it would be. And it's important how I handle the frustration of a small child who's in to everything--because in every situation, I can bring glory to God. Not just in the hard times; in every moment. And maybe, these small frustrations are preparing me for an even bigger moment to come. 

I've seen, these past few days, a beautiful light dwelling in Cooper. We started reading from the book of John last week. Ten verses a night before bedtime. It started with both boys, but I quickly realized Brayden wasn't quite ready. And that's okay--perhaps I'm meant to have this special alone time with my oldest. Since we started, Cooper has, on several occasions, gone into his room to get the Bible to read on his own. And one night, he read two verses to me by himself. I was so touched, not only by his reading (which is such a precious thing in itself, to hear this little voice reading aloud, and remembering what that voice sounded like just a few years back) but by his desire to know the Word. 

Today, Cooper woke up with a fever and stayed home from school. I came into the living room from putting Lucas and Brayden down for nap and found him sleeping peacefully on the couch, his Bible next to him. 

And we've started praying together as a family at bedtime, instead of in the boys' rooms. Lucas will usually hover near us and when we're done, I look up and see his sweet face smiling at me. He's not sure exactly what's going on, but he's happy about it. 

And Brayden, who last week sang to me several different songs that he made up himself. I wish I could post them here...they are so unbelievably adorable, my heart just melts. I want him to stay this innocent and endearing for always. 

It's so hard to really understand what a mother is until you are one. We sometimes don't realize how unappreciative we are of our parents. But these three words are my gift to my mom--I get it. I get all that you did, and all you didn't get to do, and I appreciate you. It's never forgotten, because even if people here on Earth don't appreciate the things that we do, our Father in heaven sees it all and is taking notice. 

My presents from Cooper: an owl picture made from his footprints, and a plant he grew at school. He was being silly in this pic.