Glimpse of Heaven

Babies.  A glimpse of heaven in the real world.  (Reminds me of a song I used to jam out to.)

Kids sure do bring JOY to those around them.  As their mother, sometimes we get busy rolling through the daily routines.  Sometimes their screams in the grocery store make you want to drop the full basket of items at the door as you run for the car.  Sometimes their terrible-two-moments at home (when no other adult is around to witness this devil-ish behavior!) make you wonder how mothers have been staying sane for centuries.  But when they put on that smile, that giggle, that cutesy thing they just learned yesterday.....we get a glimpse of Heaven. 

When I say "heaven" what I actually mean is this:  a visual picture of God's amazing love for us.  As Thanksgiving and Christmas draw near, stop and thank the Lord for giving you a glimpse of heaven.  Thank Him for the gift and honor of being a mom.  And pray for the women out there who are enduring vicious cycles of fertility treatments or adoption processes.  They would give anything for the gift of motherhood. 

You are blessed to be a mom.

The Imperfect Mom

As I lay in bed this morning, my mind on over-drive and unable to shutdown, I just started thinking to myself, "I need an outlet!" 

Do you ever have those moments?  The little stresses all come together and make you want to run...you dream of booking a one-hour massage, thinking that will give you the fix you need.  Just one hour by myself, in a quiet room, with no possibility of disturbance, to relax.  (I mean, really, I can't even use the bathroom without my 16-month old following me in there!) 

At first, I was going to title this blog post "Outlet your Inlets" or "Outlet Shopping."  I was going to write all about taking time for yourself to rejuvenate....because you can't take care of your kids if you're not taking care of yourself....something we've all heard before.  Then I came across a small devotional book for Moms that I inherited and found a chapter that seemed to be calling my name.  It was titled, "The Imperfect Mom."

You see, I tend to get to that point of over-stressed whenever I start thinking about all my imperfections.  It's then that I start thinking of ways to "better" myself.  And that leads to more stress because then I have this long to-do list of items that I think will make things "better."

Allow me to share this prayer with you, from Richard Exley's Straight from the Heart for Mom.

"Lord, Thank You for giving me an imperfect mom,
for using her to teach me that love is more important than perfection,
that kids are more important than things,
and that it is more important to do things with your children
rather than just for them.
Bless my children, Lord.
Fulfill Your purposes in their lives
in spite of my parental blunders."


I hope that you find as much encouragement from this prayer as I did. 

By the way, I found my outlet without having to look far.  I simply got out of bed earlier than normal so that I could have some quiet, alone time to think and pray and write.  (Because writing/journaling happens to be a pretty darn good outlet for me.)  If you don't have one already, find an outlet for yourself.  And pat yourself on the back for being the best mom you can be.  Nobody is perfect.