Category Archives: Encouragement

The Hands That Rock The Cradle

Posted in Encouragement, The Cheerful Mom by

image

    Today while folding the babies clothes, I stopped for a moment and just stared at my hands. My fingers are awkward and tired. They haven’t seen a manicure in I don’t know how long and I’ve basically given up the thought of getting one anytime soon. Today these hands have:

  • packed my husbands suitcase for an overnight trip
  • changed the babies diaper
  • fed the baby a morning bottle
  • fed the baby his morning cereal
  • prepared myself breakfast
  • played pat-a-cake
  • got the baby’s bag together to go visit my mom
  • changed another diaper
  • bathed the baby, brushed his hair and teeth
  • semi-dressed myself
  • half put makeup on
  • rocked the baby for a nap
  • woke the baby up
  • drove him to my mom and dads
  • drove back home
  • washed clothes
  • folded clothes
  • took out trash
  • stocked the babies supply closet
  • fixed lunch

and that’s just the first half of my day. Should I continue? 

   Picking up toys, wiping runny noses, washing dirty dishes, changing poopy diapers, and cleaning crumbs out of every nook and cranny is inevitable..unless you are “Supermom” and just in case you are, please tell me what your secret is! It’s easy to pick a mother out of a crowd…just look at her hands. They are the ones that usually have chipped nail polish that’s pushing a buggy full of things that are for everyone other than herself while holding hands with the cutest baby boy who is screeching loud enough for everyone on the other side of the store to hear! Yes, I might have been describing myself just then.

   By looking at the palms of a mothers hands, the daily demands that her hands face are evident. Yet what some may fail to see are the willingness that God designed these hands with. The strength to keep going when she’s too tired to pick up another toy. The super hero power of getting a knotted shoelace untied. The ability to pry open your child’s crocodile strength jaws when they’ve managed to place a pen top in their mouth.  What I see are the tiniest hands that intertwine their fingers around yours and never want to let go. When I see dirty bottles and dishes, I see that I am blessed to feed my family. When I see the toys scattered and the laundry mounting, I know I’m blessed with a place to call home. When I see my husbands muddy work boots by the door, I know I’m lucky to be married to someone who provides for his family and leads by example.

    These hands are the ones that reached down to feel every butterfly kick when my baby was still being formed in my womb. The ones that rock his precious soul to sleep at night. The ones that held my husbands tight as we said “I do” and began a life together. The ones that pick fresh flowers to grace the table we gather around as a family. If you look at your hands, you may see rough around the edges. I encourage you to look closer. Because the two hands that rock the cradle are the hands that change the world.

Just Smile!

Posted in Encouragement by

image

    The other day we were running late for church. I had set the alarm thirty minutes early the night before to ensure that we would be up and on time since my brother and his girlfriend would be meeting us for worship service. As soon as the alarm clock went off, I was up and preparing a quick breakfast. I changed the babies diaper, fed him a morning bottle, and bathed him quickly. I picked out a precious outfit he wore for six month pictures and a little pair of white shoes. I quickly realized that his foot had grown some since the last time he wore the shoes so they were a bit snug. I broke down for a ten second emotional mommy moment asking myself how my baby boy could be growing so fast and thinking oh, dear God how I was going to miss these little piggies when they turned into big piggies!!

   After working the shoes onto his feet, we grabbed our things and were out the door with ten seconds to spare. As we were driving down the road, I begin to hear a chewing sound. My son had somehow managed to wiggle the shoes off of his feet and was gnawing on one of the velcro straps. (Yes! My son is teething and Yes! I do know that a shoe is not an appropriate teething toy!)  Aggravated and thinking of how much trouble it was getting his foot into the shoe in the first place,  I ask my husband: “Please tell me that is not his shoe!” He just laughed and said, “Yep!”  

   Knowing we would have to get the shoes back on his feet before we went inside for church service, I started to go on and on about how we were going to be late for church and that we are always somehow the last ones to go in on Sunday’s! That’s when J looked at me and said two words that really rocked my soul! He said, “Just Smile!” It is not the response I expected him to give as I sat there complaining. He could have told me to hush babbling and that he is just a baby. Right then, I couldn’t help but feel the corners of my mouth turning upwards and a grin slowly creeping across my face. We pulled up at church two minutes late and I said forget the shoes!! My sweet baby looked as dapper as ever in his white socks…one which was inside out!!

    Isn’t it awesome knowing when things aren’t necessarily going our way we can look up and smile knowing God has everything under control? I was so worried about being at church on time I was letting Satan steal the joy I feel on Sunday mornings! I needed a reminder that God didn’t care about us being late but our presence there was all that mattered.