Being a wife and a mother is hard work.Just stating the obvious. One early morning with my girlie, I sat on her bed saying good morning. 13 hours later, I sat on that same corner of her bed, doing the same thing, only good night talk.
Did I work half as hard when I was a college student?
I used to think that stay-at-home mothers made pies from scratch all day and watched soap operas.
Ha!
Being a wife can be hard, too. Learning how to LISTEN more than talk, learning how to respect my husband's space, not crowd around him . . .
It's glorious work though. There have been too many opportunities to help neighbors, to talk about Jesus, to go on fun field trips, to wipe up pee on the floor, to grow in my relationship with my husband, to appreciate my marriage, to learn about fall leaves, to cherish Grace's smile, to make the house smell great with dinner in time for Bill to get home, to say I'd rather be "doing something else" with my life. It's diverse work. And that's often what makes it so hard.
This week I was chewing on Isaiah 40:11
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
I'm such a forward-thinker. I found myself having to slow down and ask God, "help me with getting lunch on the table, help me with this phone call, help me with this interaction" . . . He did gently lead me. He does gently lead. I asked the Lord several times this week to just pick me up like a lost sheep and throw me over his shoulders.
So many times when I struggle my first reaction is to get angry. "Ah! I should be able to do this by now without getting mad."
The Lord showed me. I don't have to figure myself out, I don't have to beat myself up. I just have to cast myself on mercy!
So, no matter how long my days are, I'm learning there is a special mercy for each hour. ("Day by Day"). There really is. I saw it happen this week, today, and tonight, and I know it's gonna happen again. Jesus is Lord over my days and years and seasons.
He gives me every single thing I need to be a wife to Bill, every single thing I need to be a mother to Grace, and every single thing I need to love neighbors, and every single thing I need to just be.
As Bill and I get close to celebrating 5 years of marriage, I am more and more aware that this marriage is God's. I don't have to worry about being a better wife -- the longer I gaze at Jesus, the longer I feed on His Word, the more He'll transform me into Christ's image.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV).
Thank you Jesus for these two precious people - thank you for a 5 year marriage and my Precious man, thank you for a 4 year old precious girlie.
