Joy in getting dirty....

A mama group I'm part of just finished the book Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God that is filled with individual devotions from the author's lessons in motherhood.  I encouraged everyone to write their own "devotion"  Here is mine.  

Devotion # 61: Joy in getting dirty

I want to be a mom....

who dances,

who sings loudly,

who plays on the floor,

who shares my chocolate chip cookie,

who gets dirty,

who draws with side walk chalk,

who goes down slides,

who laughs,

has joy,

loves unconditionally....

The NLT version of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 says this: 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Being a stay-at-home-mom can be exhausting and thankless Downsizing our life to live on one income requires a lot of extra “work” and the demands of motherhood- from diapers, laundry, and cooking, to cleaning, errands, and yard work...... can make the best of us act stressed out and cranky.

But I don't want my kids to look back and remember their mom as a stressed out work horse (and believe me... I do feel like one of those at times). And it's not about me looking “good” to them in their memories, but I want to be an example to them. I want them to look back and remember JOY and GRATITUDE. I want them to see an example of prayer without ceasing, a woman of gratitude who has a thankful heart. They should see me singing in the kitchen and see me thanking people when I appreciate them. They should hear me pray for them every day.

If I truly have a thankful heart I will have more joy. I will see washing endless loads of laundry as a blessing because I am so thankful to have a family that needs their clothes washed and I will be grateful for the memories we made while dirtying said clothes. I will see hour long trips to WinCo and endless hours preparing food and making things from scratch to save money as a blessing because I'm thankful for the food we've been provided with. I will be content with what I have (Hebrews 13:5) and not longing for the next best thing.

I want to be Mary in a Martha world (See Luke 10: 38-42). Diligent and faithful work is important, but I want to show my kids that I value people. Time spent with my family is more precious than diamonds and emeralds and any salary I could have made working full time.

So finish folding that load of laundry and go outside and play. Your kids want YOU!