By Contributing Writer, Tina
Today I’ve been blessed to focus on the many things for which I have to be thankful. Though my heart hurts, I do feel blessed! I soaked in every breath of my children today. I look into their eyes and am saddened greatly by the views the world now holds of children.
I wonder how so many can view this life I behold as one of “settling”?
I look out the windows of my home, and I just can’t see it. It doesn’t have a hold on me. It doesn’t beckon me or tempt me. It only makes me all the more grateful that I am woman. I am woman and I am blessed. The joy and fulfillment that I have in my life comes from doing my very best at living out my God given role.
Many days I find myself falling way short, yet still have joy because God is my guide. He forgives and He leads me into a brand new day. A brand new sunrise, with fresh dew upon the path I am on. I am thankful to be challenged daily, in this life, to set myself aside and to live for others.
My joy comes from the things that this world has grown to hate. It is in serving my husband and creating a haven for him. Creating a warm, fresh place to lay his head and to find rest away from the wearisome world.
It is in loving, caring for, nurturing and educating my children. It is in being sure each night, before they fall asleep, that there is no doubt in their precious little minds how very much they are loved and wanted. It is in their knowing they are safe, secure and children of a God who has had a special plan for their lives, even BEFORE they were conceived!
It is in caring for my home. Finding the joys in the “mundane” things of home life…laundry, dishes, diapers, messy faces, dirty little hands, floors needing swept several times a day. Yes, I certainly can go about these tasks with a smile and a song, because they are gifts.
God loved woman so much that He wanted to give her a fulfilling life in her home. Even when my heart, my body, my soul or my mind are tired and weary, I can still hold a song!
Thank you, Father, for it is in the dirty dishes, endless meal preparations, floors to mop, a husband to serve, a messy face to wash, grimy fingers to scrub, lessons to teach, little boys to train, new babies to welcome and babies to let go of, that I have learned of your love and sacrifice. I have learned to love in a way that I would have never learned, had you not given me this life. I have learned, what it means to live a life that is not all about me. Joy is IN all of these things!
Painting by Mary Cassatt
It is in dirty dishes piled in a sink because a family was gathered minutes before. The dining area was more than likely filled with laughter and the chattering of our day.
It is in endless meal preparations as that is just proof that you have continued to provide food that we may eat and fellowship together. It means my little ones are growing healthy and strong.
It is in floors to mop because that is evidence that 24 feet have scampered about them all the day long. Some rushing for an owie to be kissed. Some running to present mama with a flower picked just for her. Or maybe it is left with sticky residue representing the precious time spent between mama and her children, making cookies and discussing life….and You.
It is in a husband to serve because it means I have a man to love. It is a reminder to me that he is not my creation, or what I think he ought to be, but he is your creation and is becoming what you intend him to be. In knowing this, I also know that I have the power to build this creation up or to tear it down.
Having this man to serve and to honor means I am not alone. I am protected and I am loved. Oh, how I feel your love when I love and honor my man. How I feel protected by you when I submit to my love. Nothing feels better than being in your will.
It is in messy faces because the need to wash them means I am still needed. How can I pass up that silly little grin as a face is being scrubbed clean and then planting a mama kiss on that soft little face, knowing it will be back momentarily for another washing?
It is in grimy little fingers. This shows I have a little hand to hold. A little hand that is reaching up to mine, embracing mine and without words is pleading with me to lead him/her on in the right way.
It is in lessons to teach. What reward I have in seeing the delight in my child’s eyes in learning new things about God’s creations and design. When my eyes are focused on my children and not distracted by worldly things, then I notice the sparkle in the learning of new things each day!
It is in little boys to train. OH! But what would my life be like if I weren’t busy with little boys! They are the key to keeping me busy and unselfish! They, along with my precious daughters, are the reason why I faithfully hit my knees and ask the Lord to lead and guide me. I wouldn’t know God, as I know Him now, if it weren’t for the responsibility in the daily training of my children!
It is in little babies welcomed. Yes, I welcome any babies the Lord sends my way. I cannot say it better than Elizabeth Prentiss in Stepping Heavenward:
Here is a little mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God, and the body in which it dwells is worth all it will cost, since it is abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother’s heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, to her most tender cares, to her life~long prayers! Oh how rich I am, how truly, how marvelously blest!
The babies my husband and I welcome into our lives have each offered a tiny taste of Heaven.
It is even in little babies lost. I am not convinced that I would ever know my Heavenly Father the way I do now, if it weren’t for the trusting Him with those babies gone from me. It also might not be as easy for me to keep things in perspective when the Lord wills to grant us a baby soon after another. It is in this grief that I have learned the most valuable lesson of all in this life. That is to cherish those we hold today, knowing truly tomorrow might never come.
This is how I can go about these things that others might find as dull and “mundane”, or even uncomfortable and unsatisfying, because God has allowed me to see the joy that lies beneath the surface of such things. There is no way that I would know the joy I know today, without these things.
They are gifts and we only have a short time to accept them, before that time is gone.
About Tina
It is very sad that today’s young women have believed the lie that being a homemaker/mother is not fulfilling. I wish every one of them could hear your message on their wedding day and again the day their 1st child is born. All my life I have found more pleasure in the presence of most children than in the presence of most adults. Thanks for this post.
Perfect timing. I was just yesterday having what I had hoped would be a calm and respectful dialogue with an unbeliever about women’s roles and where (and why) I find such joy in what the world calls drudgery and foolishness, and she continued to assault me with underhanded vitriol about not respecting other women.
I had this sudden epiphany straight from the Lord: the only person making less of me is her. I don’t need anyone in or outside this house to tell me that I’m worthy: Christ Himself has already called me so. When someone tries to “liberate” my thinking, all they are really doing is undermining the work of the Gospel, and insulting the profession of motherhood; they are not increasing it, they are detracting from it.
What joy and freedom I have found in being a help meet and momma, joy this world cannot comprehend. (The darkness sees the light, but cannot comprehend it, yes?) Thank you for this sweet and timely reminder!
Beautiful!! SO encouraging to my mama heart today. Thank you!!
Yes, yes, yes. My daughter challenged me (by example) to take up Ann Voskamp’s challenge in 1,000 Gifts to write down things I am thankful for. My daughter is up to 735 and includes such things as “sun warmed hair” and “riding to church in the back seat with my little sisters.” I am at 235 and have included “sheets from off the line” and “Christ’s call not to be anxious.” Do it. Thankfullness needs as much practice as piano.
Thank you for this beautiful post. It was such a blessing to me and a reassurance. Your blog post spoke volumes to me. What blessings the Lord has gifted us with as women! Thank you and God bless!