Article by Misty Krasawski Reprinted by permission Original article published at http://www.itakejoy.com/children-are-a-blessing-right-launch-week-giveaway-2/
The text comes toward the end of a busy day.
We fed and dressed and drove our full house to
church, hustled to a nearby pizza place for a long lunch with friends, then
topped it all off with a sightseeing day. A touch of fall was in the air and we
searched the trees for spots of color as we drove along. A veritable parade of
fifteen in a funky, nearby mountain town, trying to keep everyone together
amongst the crowds, we window shopped a zillion stores and trekked through a
select few, ate too much fabulous chocolate, and finally made it back to the car,
exhausted and spent and (possibly) just a teensy bit grouchy. While we were on
our way home, a dear friend’s message came: “Can you call me for just a few
minutes, later? It’s, ummm … important.”
As soon as we got home I sent everyone to their
rooms for an hour–including me! Now it was time for me to head out again to do
some last-minute grocery shopping before my husband left for another week of
work. Dialing her number, I smiled at the thought of a little heart to
heart–hard to come by in the midst of busy days.
Her weary voice was still sweet to my ears. She
described to me her week, filled with little ones who had been ill, carpet
needing to be cleaned, meals still to be made and laundry still to be run
despite her own illness. And now a new surprise … just at the moment she’d said
to the Lord, “I thought you said you wouldn’t give me more than I can handle! I
can’t do this!” His return? “Let’s let Me decide what you can handle, okay?”
And it was that moment she knew … and now had it confirmed … two pink lines.
Oh dear! How we laughed. Okay, mostly I laughed.
Only because I’d been in her shoes so many times!
After we had a little convo about that bit about
God not giving us more than we can handle (totally unscriptural, by the way!
But He does promise He will help us handle whatever He gives!) and the
congratulations were heartily given (please call me if you ever find out
you’re pregnant; numerous friends can confirm I’m the best responder to such
news) her question finally poured out–the reason she’d texted so
plaintively.
“I love
my children so much. I cannot imagine life without any one of them. And yet
right now … as I’m cleaning up after sick children … in the midst of the mess …
I know they’re a blessing. I know God says that. But can I just ask … HOW?”
Can we ask,
friends? Is a mama allowed to have a bad day, or a string of bad days, or a few
bad years where she feels pressed to the carpet and wants to cry “uncle”–can
she ask for someone to please remind her why and how exactly this all is supposed
to be a blessing?
I think we can. And I think we do, even if we don’t
dare say it aloud, even if we’re afraid we’re going to look unspiritual and
ungrateful if anyone hears our cry. Because our Father? He knows our hearts
and He knows what it’s like to be pressed and weary and always wanted and
filled with compassion. If we love one another we will respond with grace
and admit to our own asking, and pray they remember all we say so next time
we’re in their shoes the tables can be turned and we’ll find ourselves on the
receiving end.
Here’s what I told my sweet friend (grateful that I
could hear myself say what I, too, needed to hear …)
Children
are a blessing because God says they are. Because they are people who can carry
the messages of our hearts into the future long after we’re gone. Because they
are multiplication–and we cannot even see how many times our story will be told
down that road, how our struggles and determination to be faithful will bless
those our children and grandchildren touch.
They are a blessing because He intended families to
work together, to divide the work of home and even business and enlarge our
territories and ability to produce and provide.
They’re a blessing because today they are throwing
up, but in a few days they will be wearing clean clothes and have brushed hair
and possibly even shoes on, and they will sit next to each other in a row at
church and make our hearts just about burst.
They’re a blessing because they are insurance for
the days when we are old and gray and need their help.
They’re a
blessing because today, right now, with nearly every action, thought, and
attitude, they are handing us an opportunity to become more like Christ. To die
to ourselves, to pick up our cross.
They point out to us our flaws, our selfishness,
our laziness, our procrastination, our failures in the area of love. Every
child under our roof is yet another tool in the hand of a Father determined to
see the image of His Son formed in us.
Some of us must just take more work than others.
And so we laughed and cried a bit and I thanked her
for the reminder. For making me remember and speak all the reasons my own
gaggle of giggles is a blessing; a blessing even on the days I’ve spent on my
own floor with a bottle of cleaner in one hand and a box of tissues in the
other … or maybe just the box of tissues.
Come in close, friend across the screen, and let me
whisper in your ear a truth counter to all you’re hearing in culture. Your
children are a blessing. They are not easy; mothering is not for
sissies; loving well is hard work. In those truths lie the heart of what God
wants to teach us: “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his
life for his friends.” You don’t have to look any farther than down your own
hallways to find a great place to practice imitating Jesus. And that is a
blessing, indeed.
- See more at: www.itakejoy.com
No comments:
Post a Comment