Don't grow weary!
When my oldest daughter Bekah was 3 (she is almost 11 now), she had to have tubes put in her ears. "Oh no!" we thought. "Surgery." For her trip to the hospital, we got her new slippers and jammies, a blanky, and a stuffed animal. I bathed her the night before and did her hair, etc. I am sure we bought movies and coloring books for her at home. We even flew my mom into town to watch her baby sister during the "surgery.”
It was a big deal in our house. As some of you probably know, the ear tube surgery takes about ten minutes, and the kid is back up and running when you get home. We laugh at ourselves now with four children and how we obsessed in every way over our first little one.
Flash forward seven years and three more kiddos: This past week, my little Dave Dave, who is just 3, had to have not only tubes put in his ears but have his adenoids removed. It was a big deal as he has been so sick off and on his whole three years. I can't tell you how many antibiotics he has been on in his little life. It is scary!
"Poor number Four" as we say in our house.
David's surgery was at 8 am on Wednesday. At 7:30 I "swooped" him out of bed in just his pajama pants. I purposely waited that long because he is always ravenous when he wakes up and VERY grumpy when he is hungry ( like his Daddy!), so to avoid being verbally abused by my hungry 3 yr old, I waited. Then I threw a sweatshirt and flip-flops on the dirty little guy with bad breath, and we were out the door.
When we arrived a tad late, they whisked us into the pre-op room and said. "Have him take everything off but his undies and socks!".... Uh...hu...hu...hee...hee..dowp...."Can I get one of those gowns perhaps?" The nurse smiled judgmentally as she handed me a gown. I am sure there were some nurses back there somewhere talking about me, I can just hear it now!
"What kind of mother doesn't put underwear or socks on her child when they are going to the hospital?"
Isn't that a commandment or something? Aren't I supposed to make sure they have underwear on in case they wind up at the hospital accidentally?
"Doesn't she know better?"
Yes, I do know better... but with poor # 4, there are just some things that don't matter to me anymore.
I have heard it said that if the pacifier fell on the ground with the first child, you boil it. For the second child, you run it under the faucet. By the third child, you look around to see who's looking, pop it in your mouth to clean it, and it goes back into the baby's mouth. YOU know it is true.
I have learned that their clothes don't always match, and they don't need to take a bath every night. I have to remember that it is ok for the baby to miss a nap now and then and what the babysitter fed them will do just fine.
But when I find myself not caring about the things that do matter, I stop and pray. I have two girls, a four-year gap, and then two boys. Sometimes in my selfishness, I grow weary of doing the same things repeatedly.
Sometimes I think, "I don't want to read to anyone anymore! I don't want to play army men right now because I have been playing barbies for eight years. I am done throwing the ball, coloring, and giving horsey rides!
DONE! Oh, and I am changing my name to anything other than, 'Hey, Mom?"
Then I look at my little punkins with their shiny faces, and I think what a blessing they are and how privileged I am to be their mother. They deserve the very best I have to give them, and when I am not at my best, there is a place I can go to rest, refuel, and regroup, and that is the presence of God. There, I am transformed into the woman and mother that I know he has called me to be.
Galatians 6:9 -Let us not lose heart in going good, for, in due time, we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
Philippians 4:13 -I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
Mathew 11:28 -Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. And you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my load is light.
2 Thessalonians 1:11- To this end, also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power in order that the name of Jesus may be glorified in you and you in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This past week my four-year-old read his first sentence. This is a massive deal to me as I am a grammar geek and creative writing enthusiast!! I spun him around and around by his hands while his feet dangled in the air behind him with sheer joy on his face and laughter in the air!
My three-year-old has said goodbye to diapers and, I celebrated closing a chapter on ten years of diapering children. My 8-year-old was at a brownie camp this weekend, and the house seemed empty without her bubbly quirkiness. I look upon my 11-year-old daughter and can't believe the woman she is becoming.
I am humbled that God has allowed me to be their mother. Although some things seem mundane and routine, like groundhog day over and over again. There are other things that I never tire of; a child's laughter is one of them. I pray that God would always count me worthy of this calling and that Jesus would be glorified.