When life is a mess....
I have been meaning to write for a while.
But, I haven't.
It is hard for me to find the time to sit still these days. Or maybe, I just don't like stillness.
My mind is always racing of a million and one things that need to be done. Or started. Or finished.
Never. Ending.
Our kitchen is undergoing a renovation. What began as a small, two week job....
Has turned into a not so small job.
We have been without a kitchen for several weeks now.
Hey, don't get me wrong, it has been nice not sweating over a stove. But, whew, the chaos of the dust, the mess, the constant in and out of workers....
Is getting a little old.
However, I am trying to keep my eyes on the finished product. The end result.
It will be worth it.
One day.
Parenting is a lot like this kitchen renovation. The excitement of a whole new adventure begins when you are pregnant. You dream about what it will be like....to be a mommy.
You plan and you pray....
But, parenting gets messy. Oh so messy. Beginning at day one.
Your sleep never will be the same. Ever.
When you have a newborn, you get no sleep.
When you have a teenager, you still get no sleep.
Many a night, I will go to my kids' bedrooms just to look at them. To make sure they are still there, and breathing.
The worry and fear do not get easier,
No matter the age of your child.
The days are messy. Chaotic. Unplanned events.
Just like this kitchen renovation. Like, when some workers stepped through, yes through, our ceiling. Three times.
The job lingers on..
Just like parenting.
Days can be so long. So hard. So confusing.
I feel like an utter screw up as a momma most days.
I pray and I pray.
But, I still have no idea what the outcome of all of these days will be.
I pray that these long, hard, prayer filled days produce a harvest of fruit.
I pray that the ugly messy days will somehow become beautiful.
I pray that God will never allow me to be lazy or unintentional as a momma....even when my children roll their eyes and seem to close their ears to my voice.
It's so easy to want to throw your tired hands up and say, "I GIVE UP. Does it EVEN matter? Lord, can you EVEN hear me?"
Sometimes when I get home to this mess of a kitchen and all of the workers and think, "What in tarnation? I thought we were renovating....not destroying!"
Then, a few days later, I will see some progress. I think to myself, Ohhhhh, so that's what's going on there.
It's hard to tell when you are in the thick of it, day by day.
But, when you step back and take a breath....
You begin to see.
God is building something that human eyes cannot see.
God is chiseling some hard places on my heart and my childrens' hearts. It can be painful at times.
Sometimes I want to throw that chisel to China and never lay eyes on it again.
Oh, but without the chisel we are not changed.
Lord, help us to remember this.
Help us to not give up on this parenting thing. Help us to not lose ourselves in something else because we just cannot take another day of being intentional in this motherhood thing.
Lord, help us to not be lulled away by distractions of the enemy but to stay dead set on this job of ours. This calling. This entrusting.
Help us to not give up on the hard days....or on the not so hard days. Help us to not get bored, but to stay plugged in. To stay alert. To stay all in.
Help us to keep the end in sight.
Help us to persevere.
Help us to lean into You and not into a life of escape.
Our children need us to stay intentional.
They need us to not give up.
They need us to show grace....especially to ourselves.
Mistakes are going to be made. And many.
The outcome of all of this will be worth every ounce of these hard days.
When we finally meet Jesus face to face....It will be worth these days to hear the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Well done is not perfect...
Well done is done well....
With intention.
Regardless of how God chooses for this story to end....it's our part to show up and do what we can.
Our children may stray....
And when they do, we stay the course, We never stop praying. Until we draw our last breath, we are entrusted with this calling. This purpose.
Hang in there, momma.
There will be fruit from your tired hands.
He is faithful.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
But, I haven't.
It is hard for me to find the time to sit still these days. Or maybe, I just don't like stillness.
My mind is always racing of a million and one things that need to be done. Or started. Or finished.
Never. Ending.
Our kitchen is undergoing a renovation. What began as a small, two week job....
Has turned into a not so small job.
We have been without a kitchen for several weeks now.
Hey, don't get me wrong, it has been nice not sweating over a stove. But, whew, the chaos of the dust, the mess, the constant in and out of workers....
Is getting a little old.
However, I am trying to keep my eyes on the finished product. The end result.
It will be worth it.
One day.
Parenting is a lot like this kitchen renovation. The excitement of a whole new adventure begins when you are pregnant. You dream about what it will be like....to be a mommy.
You plan and you pray....
But, parenting gets messy. Oh so messy. Beginning at day one.
Your sleep never will be the same. Ever.
When you have a newborn, you get no sleep.
When you have a teenager, you still get no sleep.
Many a night, I will go to my kids' bedrooms just to look at them. To make sure they are still there, and breathing.
The worry and fear do not get easier,
No matter the age of your child.
The days are messy. Chaotic. Unplanned events.
Just like this kitchen renovation. Like, when some workers stepped through, yes through, our ceiling. Three times.
The job lingers on..
Just like parenting.
Days can be so long. So hard. So confusing.
I feel like an utter screw up as a momma most days.
I pray and I pray.
But, I still have no idea what the outcome of all of these days will be.
I pray that these long, hard, prayer filled days produce a harvest of fruit.
I pray that the ugly messy days will somehow become beautiful.
I pray that God will never allow me to be lazy or unintentional as a momma....even when my children roll their eyes and seem to close their ears to my voice.
It's so easy to want to throw your tired hands up and say, "I GIVE UP. Does it EVEN matter? Lord, can you EVEN hear me?"
Sometimes when I get home to this mess of a kitchen and all of the workers and think, "What in tarnation? I thought we were renovating....not destroying!"
Then, a few days later, I will see some progress. I think to myself, Ohhhhh, so that's what's going on there.
It's hard to tell when you are in the thick of it, day by day.
But, when you step back and take a breath....
You begin to see.
God is building something that human eyes cannot see.
God is chiseling some hard places on my heart and my childrens' hearts. It can be painful at times.
Sometimes I want to throw that chisel to China and never lay eyes on it again.
Oh, but without the chisel we are not changed.
Lord, help us to remember this.
Help us to not give up on this parenting thing. Help us to not lose ourselves in something else because we just cannot take another day of being intentional in this motherhood thing.
Lord, help us to not be lulled away by distractions of the enemy but to stay dead set on this job of ours. This calling. This entrusting.
Help us to not give up on the hard days....or on the not so hard days. Help us to not get bored, but to stay plugged in. To stay alert. To stay all in.
Help us to keep the end in sight.
Help us to persevere.
Help us to lean into You and not into a life of escape.
Our children need us to stay intentional.
They need us to not give up.
They need us to show grace....especially to ourselves.
Mistakes are going to be made. And many.
The outcome of all of this will be worth every ounce of these hard days.
When we finally meet Jesus face to face....It will be worth these days to hear the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Well done is not perfect...
Well done is done well....
With intention.
Regardless of how God chooses for this story to end....it's our part to show up and do what we can.
Our children may stray....
And when they do, we stay the course, We never stop praying. Until we draw our last breath, we are entrusted with this calling. This purpose.
Hang in there, momma.
There will be fruit from your tired hands.
He is faithful.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
