Part 1




Tonight after making beds that had been stripped since this morning's laundry, dealing with boys who didn't want to brush their teeth or go to bed and then stepping with a bare foot on a stray Lego, I was not exactly a candidate for Loving Mother of the Year Award. I went into the kids' bathroom to find urine sprayed on the toilet seat--only from a boy!--no toilet paper, and clothes from one of my sons thrown on the floor. I had two children calling out to me to lie down with them and read to them and yet had about 10 loads of laundry calling to be folded as well as income tax returns that need to be started.

On days like today I wonder what on earth ever made me want to be a mother. I just wanted to go to bed and hope for a new day in the morning, but I knew I had a few hours ahead of me before that would be possible. That was when I had my DUH! moment. It hit me that if music could calm Caleb's moods, perhaps it would be good for me to zone out a bit with some of my favorites myself.

I offered a silent prayer that I could be calm and patient with kids until they were asleep, for as any mother knows, children are so easy to love once they are peacefully sleeping. :)

God gives me tender mercies when I least expect it sometimes. I turned on my I-pod and these words by Michael McLean came through my earphones:

All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of,
everything I hoped, and all the things I prayed for
couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given
I've been given what I need.

A mansion on a hill, or love like in the movies,
perfect little house where no one has a problem.
Instead of all those things I thought I really wanted,
I've been given what I need.

And even when I didn't understand
when I thought You had no heart.
thank You for rejecting my demands,
and always giving me a better part.

All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of,
everything I hoped, and all the things I prayed for
couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given,
I've been given what I need.

Someday they will be grown and gone and although life will be quieter and slower and I hopefully won't be stepping on Legos or replacing broken screens, I know I need to appreciate today and the joys that each child brings me. Thank you, Michael McLean, for putting my day back in the proper perspective. In spite of the trials they provide me, in my children, I truly have been given what I need to best learn how to love and grow.