At first sight of this picture, my first thought is "this is why child labor laws were created". I mean, I am certainly starting at a young age teaching Mary Lindsey about the joys of folding and putting away laundry...a task I really do not like! She is not wonderful at this task at the present time, but she has the will and drive to learn the skill in the months and years to come. She loves to see a load of laundry coming. She watches how I fold and tries to help...really she slows me down more than anything. But to watch her, she really feels like she is helping me. So basically laundry normally takes me 5 times as long as it should, but we have lots of fun doing it.
I know many of you that read this blog are mothers. I have enjoyed getting emails from some of you about different posts and looking at yours. It is fun to see pictures and hear what is going on in your lives. This is truly one of my windows to the world right now. Having two children under 2 keeps you around the house a lot. And I have to make a confession. My emotional, phyical, and spiritual state over the past week has felt a lot like this bed of laundry looks...chaotic and a heavy load to bear! Yesterday I had my first big meltdown while Larry was at work. It was one of those mornings that I had been up since 4:30 and by 2:00pm I still had no shower. As soon as one child was either sleeping or content the other began to cry. To be honest, I just wanted to go sit in the bathroom by myself and cry, but I didn't even have time to go do that. My house pretty much looked like that pile of laundry does, and housework seemed completely out of the question. I yelled at Mary Lindsey for the first real time and I promise it hurt me way more than it hurt her. I sat down and cried with her. I was so convicted because I yelled at my daughter to leave me alone so I could read my bible and have some time with God. I spiritually felt completely drained and alone. God seemed SO FAR from my surroundings. Thankfully a few hours later I did have some time to sit and cry to my heavenly Daddy and admit my weakness and feeling of so many fears and failures as a mother. I was brought to this passage. "They go from strength to strength. Psalm 84:7" In my daily routine as a mother, I often times feel myself grow tired and weary of all the work at hand. But because I am a child of God I have a perfect portion of Grace and strength given to me each moment. It was such a relief to remember that it is my Jesus loving these children through me. It is Him that is sustaining me and speaking through me and rocking through me and filling juice cups and changing diapers when to be honest I am tired. My prayer is today that God would renew my strength and give me His hands and words as I serve my family. I am reminded of HOW BLESSED I AM! I have 2 healthy children who I dearly love, a best friend for my husband, and friends and family who love and pray for us. I went to bed last night a woman filled with joy and thankfulness that God has trusted me with this task. I guess I am writing this to encourage some of you. You are not alone! We all have times of self pity and weakness. But we also have a Savior who is bigger than our trials and afflictions...and He promises in the midst of it all sufficient Grace.
I had to slip in a picture of Luke. He slept while we folded laundry. (On a side note...look at how long he is! He is almost the full width of the pack and play!)
At first sight of this picture, my first thought is "this is why child labor laws were created". I mean, I am certainly starting at a young age teaching Mary Lindsey about the joys of folding and putting away laundry...a task I really do not like! She is not wonderful at this task at the present time, but she has the will and drive to learn the skill in the months and years to come. She loves to see a load of laundry coming. She watches how I fold and tries to help...really she slows me down more than anything. But to watch her, she really feels like she is helping me. So basically laundry normally takes me 5 times as long as it should, but we have lots of fun doing it.
I know many of you that read this blog are mothers. I have enjoyed getting emails from some of you about different posts and looking at yours. It is fun to see pictures and hear what is going on in your lives. This is truly one of my windows to the world right now. Having two children under 2 keeps you around the house a lot. And I have to make a confession. My emotional, phyical, and spiritual state over the past week has felt a lot like this bed of laundry looks...chaotic and a heavy load to bear! Yesterday I had my first big meltdown while Larry was at work. It was one of those mornings that I had been up since 4:30 and by 2:00pm I still had no shower. As soon as one child was either sleeping or content the other began to cry. To be honest, I just wanted to go sit in the bathroom by myself and cry, but I didn't even have time to go do that. My house pretty much looked like that pile of laundry does, and housework seemed completely out of the question. I yelled at Mary Lindsey for the first real time and I promise it hurt me way more than it hurt her. I sat down and cried with her. I was so convicted because I yelled at my daughter to leave me alone so I could read my bible and have some time with God. I spiritually felt completely drained and alone. God seemed SO FAR from my surroundings. Thankfully a few hours later I did have some time to sit and cry to my heavenly Daddy and admit my weakness and feeling of so many fears and failures as a mother. I was brought to this passage. "They go from strength to strength. Psalm 84:7" In my daily routine as a mother, I often times feel myself grow tired and weary of all the work at hand. But because I am a child of God I have a perfect portion of Grace and strength given to me each moment. It was such a relief to remember that it is my Jesus loving these children through me. It is Him that is sustaining me and speaking through me and rocking through me and filling juice cups and changing diapers when to be honest I am tired. My prayer is today that God would renew my strength and give me His hands and words as I serve my family. I am reminded of HOW BLESSED I AM! I have 2 healthy children who I dearly love, a best friend for my husband, and friends and family who love and pray for us. I went to bed last night a woman filled with joy and thankfulness that God has trusted me with this task. I guess I am writing this to encourage some of you. You are not alone! We all have times of self pity and weakness. But we also have a Savior who is bigger than our trials and afflictions...and He promises in the midst of it all sufficient Grace.
I had to slip in a picture of Luke. He slept while we folded laundry. (On a side note...look at how long he is! He is almost the full width of the pack and play!)
2 comments:
Thanks Brooke for your openness! It does help to know that I'm not alone. I too have these moments. I too yelled at Ian last night while bathing him and getting him ready for bed. I had to ask him like 5 and 6 times to do something...and then ended up having to threaten him with a spanking. After I got him to bed, I too had a moment where I just wanted to cry and felt like a terrible mother. So, thank you for your post today. Thank you for the passage! On another note, your two children are beautiful! Luke is a handsome dude...and it's hard for me to remember Ian being that small. What a wonderful blessing and gift God gives us in our children!
I can imagine that you are stressed and would like to see the outside world! Not in the same boat, but I am having a hard time balancing what has become a 24-hour school schedule and still being a good mommy. It is nice to know that feeling imperfect is part of the job and one that is shared by others. I know you are doing a great job!!
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