Yesterday at the MOPS group I'm involved with, I sat with a couple of other moms and we talked about how hard being a mom is. We shared stories of what surprised us about motherhood. We wrestled with dark, hidden things of motherhood that no one ever tells you. We struggled through the trap of undermining the work we do as mothers by tossing the phrase 'just a mom' around when asked what we do. We gave ourselves permission to say that who we are and what we do as moms is important work, significant work and no less valuable then those sitting in conference rooms disucssing plans to change the world.
There are a lot of things about motherhood that I did not realize. Like the constancy of it. It's all day, every day. We don't get to 'turn it off'. We don't stop being a mom or thinking like a mom just because our kids go to school or off to bed. Mom.. it feels our entire being, our doing. And ya'll - that is significant.
Remember those early days and even more - those nights with newborn babies. The darkness of the house. The silence.. except for that little baby and his crying. all... night... long... No one tells you how hard those nights are. How tired you will be. How frustrated you get. Trying to learn how to nurse and how much that hurts and the emotions after giving birth.. Goodness - whose body is that and what in the world is it doing?
Or the disciplining of children. What is right? what works? and how in the world am I to help my children become kind, responsible, hard working, generous, loving, selfless human beings? Some days it feels impossible.
The exhaustion. Feeling totally unprepared for these little people and their constant questions and needs and requests and arguments and defiance. Oh my word, the defiance gets me every time. And how is there any significance in doing dishes every single day and yet the sink is never empty? The toy rooms that never stays clean. The mundance of doing wash, folding wash, putting wash away.. me? a mom? significant?
YES! moms.. and you too dads... the work that we do as parents of our little people - it is so significant. As I fold socks, I pray for the paths those little feet will walk upon and that they will always follow after Christ. We hold hands and redirect behavior and pray that those little hands will always be gentle with others. We clear the toys and make room for new messes and we let our children be children who pull every single thing out and giggle with innocence and excitement and then we teach them how to clean up toys so some day they know how to clean up bigger messes and they can go into the world and make a difference. Those snuggles in the morning when the sun is not even up yet help little ones to start the day feeling safe and loved and brave and valued and some day we will sleep again, but not today, not when our babies need our arms around them.
We may not be bringing home big paychecks, or shaking hands with other CEO's or executives or well dressed people every day planning meetings and building company's and saving lives on the surgical table. We may go days without fully brushing our hair or getting out of our yoga pants. Some days the only conversation we have will be with our children and our husbands. But momma's.. hear this.
YOU ARE SIGNIFICANT. The work we do in raising our tiny human people, in teaching them manners, in helping them learn to read and do math and build towers - it is important. The hugs, the kisses, the yes's and the no's: the books read over and over again; the child hanging on our leg while we are trying to make dinner; the conversations over homework, or in the car or at bedtime.. the work in the house and on the house that isn't getting done because we are being moms - it is all important. Be significant in who you are as a mom. Those little people are worth it.
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