Jan. 25, 2008 - Little feet and soft hands
Blessed the day whose morning is wakened by the patter of little feet! Blessed the heart from which all the soreness is drawn out by the soft hand of a babe!
T. De Witt Talmage
Crumbs Swept Up 1897
I am afraid that not many people think of their children in this way today. Instead of removing soreness from the heart, children are thought to bring burdens and inconvenience. How some parents long for the day when all of the children are grown and "peace" reigns in the home. But one day, in the not too distant future, there will be no patter of little feet, stomping of big feet (if you have teenage boys), or the click of dainty high heels (for those with teenage daughters). In place of that will be deafening silence and a heart sore for want of children in the home again.
Children bring something inexplicable to our lives, a joy and fulfillment that cannot be filled with anything else. I believe that this is because the Bible says children are an heritage of the Lord (Psalm 127:3). This just means that they are a possession given to us by the Lord. There is nothing else in life that can replace a God-given desire such as children, even the love of a husband. Elkanah, Hannah's husband, wondered at her weeping and asked am not I better to thee than ten sons? (1 Samuel 1:8) Obviously not!
When people ask how I can spend the entire day, every day with my children, it's really difficult to explain. There is just such a love for my children in my heart that I cannot imagine being away from them so much every day.
Don't get me wrong! There are days when they don't get along, they've made huge messes in the house just doing school, and I'm feeling the strain of being cooped up in the house because it's too cold to be outside. But I know, I know, I know that these days will soon be gone. In fact, it's already creeping in, closer and closer. My oldest daughter is assistant manager at a Barnes and Noble cafe and is away from home five or six days a week, eight to ten hours a day. My sons work odd jobs a couple days a week, sometimes being gone all day Saturday. How did I get to be the mother of THREE grown (nearly grown?), hard-working, responsible, well-respected young people! When did it happen? Just yesterday they were chubby-cheeked little people bringing me fists full of weeds and handwritten love notes.
God forbid that I should come across pictures of them as toddlers and preschoolers! How many times have I come across pictures of them when I was cleaning a drawer or closet, only to set the tears to flowing?
My husband sometimes laughs at me, though not in a mocking way, when I hear one of those "stupid" songs on the radio about children growing up. I just can't help it. It seems only a few days ago I was begging God for children! Now we are beseeching Him for godly spouses, jobs, and other "adult" things.
Want to know something really scary? My daughter is the same age now as I was when I married my husband nearly twenty-two years ago. What were my mother and father thinking?
As I close today, I just want to encourage of you stressed out moms out there to hang in there. I know that days get long and frustrating, especially when you are homeschooling and trying to fulfill so many roles. It's so easy to forget that children are meant to bring joy to our lives, that they are gifts from the Lord. But I promise you that these days will last but a little while and then you'll wish them back once more.
Just remember: you are shaping the future, raising godly young people for the glory of God! Your children are really not meant to be with us forever. Our jobs are to train them up, release them to do God's will for their lives, and to trust God with them. But they'll always take a piece of our hearts with them, and we'll never get that little piece of heart back again.
Once a mom, always a mom.
Love to you all,
Julia Lynne
© 2007 Julia Faulkner
Thoughtful thoughts
Jan. 30, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Kayluray
This is beautiful. My mom often comments that it's not normal for moms to be home all day every day with their kids. Not normal? Since when? Anyway, I guess that could be another blog post.
Your words are encouraging and help us to not feel so alone on this journey.
Jan. 30, 2008 - Hey Lynn
Posted by Michelle Schultz
I had a couple of kiddo's sick yesterday, so decided to keep them home.
I love your blog. I've been thinking along the same lines lately. I keep seeing a commercial of a family who had sextuplets. The mom says, "If I could, I'd have them all married off today, and out of my house." Her kids were just starting Kindergarten. As I've been thinking about that, I've drawn the same conclusions as you. Sometimes I wish I could slow time down to be with the kids longer.
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