Yesterday, I came across a story that was humbling. I'll link to it at the end of this post. A toddler in the tub with his brother. A great mom momentarily distracted. A tragedy. Emotional turmoil. Prayers answered. Tragedy averted. MIRACLE! Gratitude. I was particularly struck with the following excerpt from Sarah's blog.
"But as I spoke, I realized that faith can not grow where fear is allowed to dwell. There is not room in my heart for both. Fear is the paralyzing agent of the adversary. A first line of his defense. And so I made a choice. I must choose faith. Choose to believe. Despite the odds. Despite the grim news. Despite the reality before us."
Those are such powerful words. How often do we look at what APPEARS to be real, and accept it as such? Rather than see in our mind and heart what the TRUTH really is. I believe reality is what we make of it. (with divine help) God says, for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. How often do we look at people, things, or circumstances and only see them with our natural eyes? Ask 100 people in a room what they witnessed in a crime or even a sporting event, and you will get vastly different answers. What is the truth? Well, I don't know that I really have the answer. But I believe that more often than we can imagine, God's will, is whatever our righteous hearts desire. Life, not just the breathing, but the living; hangs in the balance between fear and faith. And I believe He wants us to experience the power of faith. But too often fear, or other negative emotions crowd in. And we experience failure when we might have experienced joy. Just my musings. I really do believe it.
One of my favorite quotes of all time:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson
And fortunately, there are ways to handle those negative emotions.
But this is about joy. Reading the Staker family's close call, took me back to a time when I had four little boys and was overwhelmed with the sheer challenge of three daily meals, baths, books, diapers, diapers, diapers. Oh, how I never thought there would be an end to diapers. And yet, the end to diapers did come, replaced with loads and loads and loads of laundry. Well, the loads have decreased with that new washer talked about in the I Am Grateful for It All post below. Do you know I've gone from like 12 loads a week to 7? Love that!
But I digress. There was a time when I thought the reality of my life was defined by the little boys and the smudges on the wall, ER trips, and little boy fights. I don't like to admit that sometimes I thought the drudgery of it all would smother me. I knew what I was doing was important, but oh how I did not know what I was doing was important. I had a flash of insight a couple of days ago. Maybe it wasn't insight. Maybe it was just a thought. But it occurred to me with the need for professional mothering (stay at home moms) in the world today, combined with the spiraling conditions that world finds itself in, that in the future, maybe the only children and families who will "make it" are the ones where there is a loving mother in the home.
Well, that just changes the whole perspective of diapers, and broken bowls, and laundry! What if every mother knew she had the most important job in the world? Just by staying home and wiping tears, reading stories, and putting band aids on scrapes that don't bleed. What if mothers embraced the power of motherhood rather than the drudgery? What if they found ways to strengthen and lift themselves while strengthening and lifting the little souls in their care? What if mothers cared more about their femininity than their sexuality (ie Desperate Housewives which I have PROUDLY never watched!)? What if every day they realized that they are stopping Satan dead in his tracks by raising little boys and girls dedicated to Christ and His righteousness? Oh what a different world we would have.
Mothers of the world repeat with me, "I have the most important job in the world. I am a mother. I affect the future of the world by rearing powerful children!" Watch out!
So, anyway. Two of those little boys who ran around and "made me crazy." They are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They pay for the privilege of teaching and preaching and bearing testimony of Christ. And then they INVITE others to find out FOR THEMSELVES if the message is true. They pay out of their own pockets for this privilege and they endure cold, and rudeness, and doors slammed in their faces right after being yelled at. And they've never been happier in all of their lives. It amazes me how almost every email (once a week if everything falls together just right) one of them mentions how happy they are. And oh, how it warms this mother's heart.
Their teaching and preaching and testifying and inviting is often extended to their family. Us. Our little family. And their growth has contributed greatly to my own growth. Funny, I never thought all that "great" teaching I was doing would come back to bless me. :-) So glad it has though. They are teaching me so much more than I am sure I ever taught them. And all of that appearance of drudgery...the reality is it was all for JOY. And SOMEONE greater than I am knew that. I'm so glad I went along, albeit some days reluctantly. I often cry great tears of joy when I read their letters. I feel so blessed and humbled. And we are back to the beginning of my post, being humbled by someone else's experience. I think it will touch you too.
