For the Parents of TODDLERS!!!

Don't you see that children are God's best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior's fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don't stand a chance against you;
you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.

-Psalm 127:3-5 (The Message)

I was talking to my sister a couple nights ago. She is pregnant with her second child, a girl. Any day now her and I will each have 2 children, one boy, one girl. She mentioned how it bothers her when people ask her if she knows what shes having, and then proceed to say "Oh, one of each, now you can stop!" as if two is all she wants.

Shifting slightly, let me admit - I truly, 100%, don't care what you think, just LOVE the Duggars. In case you don't know who they are, they are the "crazy-mormon-catholic-amish-weird family on TLC with 19 kids"...actually they are a cute big southern Baptist family from Arkansas, but who's judging?

See, most people today see kids as right of passage, a product of hormones, a chapter of life, or simply...just what you do when you get married. In recent days I have heard way too many lines such as "I can't wait until my kids are out of the house, then I can really live!" or "man, I really can't wait to get some sleep at night", and "Oh honey, just wait, motherhood isnt all it's cracked up to be" etc. And sidenote for the lady behind me at Publix...I know I have a long road ahead, thank you!

But lately I have been praying for The Lord to help me see my present blessings rather than envision future ones. His revelation to me has been an extremely emotional experience. When my son woke up in the middle of the night crying for hours and would only sleep on my chest (he is NOT a little thing), my husband told me the next day that I literally prayed out loud and said "this is what heaven will be like!"

I have become aware that these cranky, tough, toddler years will become some of my favorite stories to tell my kids when they come over for a visit one day in the future. I have really started to enjoy the little messes and realize that they are little future memories.  I have started to ask myself

"What am I going to do WITHOUT my kids?"

Sweet boy turns one in two days, and as hard as I try, the ticking clock wins, yet again. I am sitting in my room next to the chair that I nursed him in this time last year, as he stared at me, the only "world" he knew. Behind me, my baby girl just fell asleep after saying her own prayers and brushing her own teeth. I watch them play together in the bathtub and wonder what it will be like when bathtime doesn't result in me ending up soaked, too. How boring will it be to see an inkpen on the ground and not search for the hidden love notes on the wall...or computer screen...or mirror...

I complain now about never having time to wash my hair, or do my makeup, or cook my own breakfast, but how will it feel when those things become my "everyday" routine?

I will miss finding fingerprints on the mirror, or bracelets in my coffee, or car keys in the treasure chest...scratch that last one :)

What I'm getting at here is this - I realize that the biggest blessings in my life are being labeled "problems" by a very selfish society, and I refuse to partake in the complaining. For you ladies who know me - hit me upside the head if you hear me utter a "you're tellin me...", or an "I can't wait until...", because the same stories that start that way today, will end with a "yeah, I miss those days..." before I even know it.

Thank you, Lord, for entrusting me with a blessing that some only dream of. Thank you for using them to teach me. Thank you for filling my days with laughter, sleepiness, and hysteria all at once. Thank you for creating me to be your child, and for turning MY messes into blessings. You truly are amazing.