Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Perspective

Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests. Proverbs 14:4

Being a Mommy is a lot of work.
There are dishes to be done, dinner to cook, laundry to wash, boo-boos to kiss, monsters to scare, stories to read...the list is endless.
One thing I think all of us Mama's can relate to is...the MESS!! No matter how well organized you are or how early you wake up in the morning, there is something to clean. Whether it be your husbands breakfast plate, a stray pair of socks hiding in the bathroom, or maybe a little toy on the floor that is just aching for your bare foot to step on it.
There is ALWAYS something.
I feel perspective is important in this area, to continually remind ourselves this is a season of life. That while our children are small we are in the season of training them to be independent & learn to pick up after themselves as well as be a help to Mama. After all, these 4 daughters of mine are going to be keepers of their homes & they need to know how to run that home.
At times I'm not that great at this, I can get really upset with my kids & take things personal, I begin to feel taken advantage of.
How many times do I have to say do this or do that?
How many toy explosions do I hafta maneuver through?
How much hardened toothpaste do I hafta wipe off the sink??? grrrrr....
It can get more than frustrating.
And then lo & behold...pooh happened.
Seriously...poop.
Let me paint you this picture.
There you are, eating lunch as the baby naps. She begins to fuss just a bit to let you know "hey, I'm awake over here, come get me"
Well, you decide to take a few more minutes to finish munching & after a little bit you realize she's settled down.
Cool!! You can clean up the dishes & get her lunch ready too!
Nice, it feels good to know you have things under control right??
Ha! Silly Mommy...did you think this painted picture was so neat & tidy??
Nope, there's the poop remember?
Well, as you gingerly walk into the room there's your sweet little one, covered in last nights dinner.
This was my happy surprise from my Munchkin. Wanna see??



Notice how her hands are clenched? She was squishing it...like play dough!! It was all over the bed, her legs, up her arms, & on her "babies"
UGH...this situation required quick action, but seriously I couldn't find a clean patch of skin so I could at least get her outta the crib! Sooo, I did what Mommie's do I picked up my pooh covered baby & ended up pooh covered myself. Well, just my hands but hey, that's bad enough. I stuck her straight in the tub diaper, jammies & all. And although she eventually became clean we had to dodge all the floating pooh...yeah you can gag here a little if you need to. So after she was rinsed I had to wash the tub & scrub her again. All along I had my little Monkey running back & forth grabbing bags for the diapers, wipes, paper towels, gloves, gas mask, hazmat suit. OK, OK...there wasn't a hazmat suit but I'm seriously thinking of looking for one on Ebay.
Now, mind you during all this my sweet Bear is stripping the crib, from the bathroom, I could hear her dry heaving, & gagging. If she did get any sort of words out it was simply "EeEeeeWwwww.."
I gotta say, this daughter of mine...she's awesome cuz I can say without a doubt that at 8 years old you couldn't pay me to handle my sisters poop covered sheets. Then again my sisters 6 years older than me so if she had poop covered sheets for me to clean that woulda been downright scary!
Anyway, as I cleaned all this poop I was reminded of the above scripture..

Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests. Proverbs 14:4

Basically what the verse is saying is things get messy. Life is messy, ministry is messy, kids are messy. Sure I can have a clean home, & no poop adventures. But then my manger would be empty...& that my friends is a painful thought.
What I absolutely love is the promise of the strong Ox & it's abundant harvest. See, my kids are like the oxen, right now they're little messy animals but as I train them & raise them to be strong in the LORD, the harvest reaped will be plentiful.
So, for the time being..I will clean butts, wipe noses, scrub behind ears as well as wash the same plate 42 times in one single day, sweep under the table, & a million other seemingly tedious tasks. However, I will keep a thankful heart for my messy manger full of little animals that have captured my heart.

The Blessed Supermom



2 comments:

  1. Thank you! My day just got brought back into where it should be. I was having a pity party for myself feeling down, read your post and remember those days oh so well. Five kids ages 23 to 9 now. Don't miss those diaper overflows for nothing...lol..thanks for the picture even. (((Hugs))) to you. The great thing is, It all comes out in the wash. Have a blessed day.
    Bec

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  2. Thank you Becky! We all have those days & they are so easy to wrap up in them. Thankfully, His mercies are new every morning, God is so good to bless us!

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