Girlish Dreams To Eternal Work
For many of us our girlish dreams are to become “mommies”. We spend our hours imagining what it will be like to bring a tiny newborn home from the hospital. We picture in our head the photos we will take, rocking, cuddling, and feeding them. A lot of us impatiently wait for the right guy to come along, the right amount of time to pass after getting married, and then the waiting for the two lines to show we are pregnant with that first baby. Many of us it takes a long time and there is loss along the way.
But finally the lines turn blue, we bring the newborn home, photos are taken, and a few days/years in, it is easy to lose those girlish dreams when we are elbow deep in messes of everyday life. We begin to think of motherhood as a series of tasks every day, until we can get the kids into bed at night. Pick up toys, laundry, cook dinner, scrub a toilet repeat. We ourselves fall into bed crying and discouraged because we know we will be up again 3-17 times again to comfort and feed, before the morning dawns. The tiny voices of the babies we had longed for call for us and we start it all over again. .
The fights feel endless, you wonder if you’re reading them enough books, spending enough one on one time with each of them, giving them enough hours outside, and taking them to enough enriching activities.
(See how to best ask for help on those hard days …)
Your daily moments, worries, and work aren’t wasted.
These everyday moments are how we show them the character of God as we serve is small ways for long days.
- Diligence as we clean up after them and teach them how to care for a home.
- Compassion as we answer the cries of pain, kiss booboos, and answer the needs of the baby.
- Humility as we apologize for the words too quickly and angerly spoken.
- Kindness as we treat their anger with gentleness.
- Love as we wrap our arms around them and comfort, read stories, and use kind words.
And even if today seems too dark to see any of that.
God sees every tear shed during the dark nights. He hears the silent prayers and pleas for patience. He knows your desire to love well and your exhaustion as you face every single day.
One day we will look back and see the work he was doing in our heart and in theirs. One day every sacrifice will bear fruit.
Eternal work isn’t easy, but it will be worth it.
