Soaking up the new warmth of the early summer sun, I sit outside on our patio, drinking a coke, which feels like a luxury to my normally-healthy-eating-self. the relief for school being out is pallpable. I watch, contentedly, as my 7 and 9 year-olds hurl themselves down the new slip-and-slide, sliding and sailing on the wet plastic, laughing the whole way.
and as I watch, I can almost see the sands of time slipping away. It's not going to be that much longer that my elementary-aged-children are satisfied with some simple water toys in our backyard, and the thought of them getting older is almost more than my heart can bare.
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| a flash-back to my 3-year-old Grace |
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I am grateful for the ages that they are currently, for so many reasons, and am thankful for the tiny bit of perspective that having slightly older children can bring. The days of toddlers and babies and kids that will never, ever, ever sleep through the night seem endless. Those days are oh-so-good, but oh-so hard. A dear friend of mine, smack in the middle of those oh-so-hard days, recently told me that she KNOWS these are the days that she will miss, but pondered aloud how to enjoy them more in the moment.
As I've been in the throws of this glorious journey called {motherhood} for almost the last decade, and have discussed the HARD of motherhood with so many friends, so many times, I have begun to think that all of the HARD of this journey is, in large part, due to the fact that it all seems so insignificant. The diapers, the midnight feedings, the tantruming-toddlers, the feeding of breakfast, snacks, lunch, snacks, dinner, and more snacks...it all seems to go on cyclically...and we wonder what on earth we are doing with our days.
Is it significant at all?
Are we accomplishing anything?
Are we making any kind of difference in the mundane?
and the answer is an overwhelming, resounding YES.
YES. YES. YES.
It IS significant. There's a litany of reasons, that you and I could both list off.
However, straight out of the book of Ephesians, we're given the greatest reason of all.
This journey of motherhood is significant, because God Himself has granted us significance in CHRIST before the creation of the world. Significance is not found in what we do or don't do, it's found in who we are in Christ. Ephesians 1 tells us that he Predestined us - if you're a believer in Christ, it means that you were "marked out beforehand" to be adopted as a daughter in Christ - and that's the most significance you could ever long for.
In the cosmic-changing game of Red Rover, the God of the Universe called your name and put you on His team forever. You have been chosen, you have been called, You have been granted significance in Christ.
The next middle-of-the-night awakening, where you have reached your physical limit of exhaustion, preach truth to your heart: you have been chosen by Him, and He sees you now.
In the middle of a battle of wills with a four-year-old that leaves you close to tears, preach truth to your heart: you have been chosen by Him, and He sees you now.
On the days that nothing goes right and laundry piles, dishes loom, and everyone is crying, preach truth to your heart: you have been chosen by Him, and He sees you now.
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Our hearts change when we change our thinking (Romans 12:1), so as we let truth from His Word permeate our thoughts, our day-to-day will gradually shift. When you feel like it's all insignificant, all mundane, remind your heart that you have been granted a place in the Divine Family Tree, and the God of all has chosen YOU. He sees, He knows. Motherhood is the furthest from insignificant, even when it feels like it is. Stop telling yourself it doesn't matter, and serve your family, as a daughter of the King of Kings, knowing He has granted you all the significance you could ever want, before you were even born.
"...even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world..."
Ephesians 1
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