Treasuring the Mom Life
Treasuring the Mom Life
[Editor’s Note: This is a guest story by Sarah Dethier. Wooh, as a mama, I totally relate to this mom life devotional today! I hope it encourages you as well.]
Cheers to Whoever Declared: ‘The Days are Long but the Years are Short’
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17
I’m sitting at the dining room table, basking in a few precious moments of silence before the “storm” ensues. In the middle of my blissful solitude, I hear it: footsteps that sound as though they belong to someone much larger than a 34-pound four-year-old.
Subsequently, I hear those footsteps inch closer and closer to the stairwell and look up to see my sleepy-eyed eldest descend the stairs, in anticipation of what the day will bring. As soon as his eyes meet mine, he picks up speed and runs to me, grin a mile wide, and sinks into my lap. Any thoughts I had of my morning being “interrupted” melt away and are replaced with the realization that I am blissfully and undeservedly blessed. “Morning, baby,” I say. “Let’s go make your breakfast.”
As he sits and eats his breakfast, I return to my now lukewarm cup of coffee and sit for what I know will be just a few, short moments of quasi-solitude. Sure enough, within seconds of my eldest’s descent of the stairs, his younger brother starts to announce his readiness to face the day, in the form of made-up songs that only a two-year-old could concoct: “The duck on the farm goes quack, quack, quack, all through the bus…”.
I giggle to myself and think, I like your version better, kiddo.
I know, in that moment, that the day will include the craziness that defines toddlerhood, peppered with moments of sweet and downright hilarious antics. They will drive me crazy, only to punctuate that craziness with such sweet notions as, “You’re such a pretty princess, mama.” Boys! There will be bumps and bruises, despite warnings from mama against “climbing on the table”, as well as tears and whines when mama says “no” to “just one more pack of (sugar-laden) gummies”. But…there will also be love and laughter and moments of wondering what I could have possibly done to deserve these two incredible boys. The answer, of course, is nothing. The Lord chose me to be their mama and has offered them to my husband and I as undeserved gifts. They belong to Him first.
However crazy, I know my days as a SAHM (i.e., Stay-at-Home Mom) are to be treasured, for they will quickly morph into farewells at the front door as our boys venture off to “parts unknown”, for conquests that no longer include Mom and Dad.
My prayer, first and foremost, is that my husband and I will have done all we could to impart the truth of the Gospel to them in a way that will prepare them to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) and to “love others as Christ loves us” (John 15:21).
While I do not believe that motherhood should be lived within these moments of imagining our babies as grown and gone, they are, nonetheless, thoughts I occasionally allow myself to have. Why? Because they serve as sobering reminders of the sanctity of motherhood. It is such a gift, and I am humbled to know that I do in fact require fairly regular reminders of the truth of that statement. Like nothing else, motherhood will bring you to your knees in surrender to the only One who can pull you up from under the weight of it all.
So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed with this “mom gig”, take another sip of that lukewarm coffee, followed by another deep breath, and know that you’re not alone. Seek like-minded mamas with a knack for “keepin’ it real” and for encouraging and praying for you throughout this journey. I promise that those women will become some of the best friends for whom you could ever ask or imagine. Happy “momming” to you. Be blessed!
My name is Sarah Dethier. I have been married to my wonderful husband for eight years, and together we have two precious little boys, ages two and four. I graduated from the University of Florida in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and then with a Master of Arts in Behavior Analysis from the University of South Florida in 2008. I am a Behavior Analyst by trade, working mainly with children with disabilities and their families. Though I enjoy what I do and absolutely love my clients, I have always had a passion for writing and all things literary. I enjoy researching and learning more in the areas of nutrition and fitness, as well as in the areas of parenting and child development. No matter my career status or pastime pursuits, however, my position as “wife” and “mother” take priority over all else.
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