Today's Devotion

I have started a new habit. Every morning that I am at work, I pull out a little book entitled "Wisdom for the Way" by Chuck Swindoll and type in the next page's devotion into an e-mail and send it to my husband who receives it on his blackberry. We both get our little devotion for the day that way.

Here's today's....

Five Cheers for Mom

"She looks well to the ways of her household:...her children rise up and bless her, her husband also."
-Proverbs 31:27-28

What does motherhood require? Transparent tenderness, authentic spirituality, inner confidence, unselfish love, and self-control. Quite a list, isn't it? Almost more than we should expect. Perhaps that explains why Erma Bombeck used to say that motherhood takes 180 movable parts and 3 pairs of hand and 3 sets of eyes...and, I might add, the grace of God. If you happen to be a mother, here's one guy who applauds your every effort. Five cheers for all you do!

Remember the Skin Horse in The Velveteen Rabbit? All his stuffing was starting to come out, his hair had been "loved off", but how valuable he was!...Carefully kept mothers don't have secure kids. Carefully kept, untouchable "velveteen mothers" turn out fragile, selfish, untouchable children. But unselfish, giving, secure moms somehow manage to deposit healthy, wholesome kids in our lonely, frightened society.

You know what I was doing yesterday evening? I was teared up because I was tapped out. After 3 nights of bad sleep, I picked up the baby from daycare yesterday afternoon. This interrupted his nap - that was a bad thing. I then juggled him at the pediatrician's office, helped give him his 2 vaccines, and took him home where he absolutely did not want to take a nap - never mind the fact that he was so tired he had rubbed his eyebrows to a bright red. He didn't want to lay down, or swing, or bounce, or play - he wanted to be carried around. He ate a little here and there and fussed and fussed and fussed. I knew he was tired and didn't feel good. By the time my husband got home, I was ready to hand the baby over for a little relief for my back. And then came the poo...all that poo that needed to come out of the baby for the past few days decided to make its grand, stinky entrance. Let me tell you, that takes two people to handle especially since Kelton wants to roll over (and over and over) once he's finished his business. All I wanted was to just sit (or lay down) for 15 minutes with no fussy baby so I could get a grip, but it was one of those evenings where it just wasn't happening and I was ready to cry. And then I felt like a heel...what kind of mom am I that I needed a break from my baby? I felt selfish...I felt mad at myself...I felt exhausted...I felt like curling up and crying and getting it all out. I can usually put myself back together after a good cry.

And then I read this morning's devotional. I want to be and I pray to be the mother that God intends me to be. I know that He blesses us with children, but they're effectively on loan from Him and it's our job to raise them so that they are equipped to know Him and follow the paths He has set for them. I want our son to be a whole person. I want him to know and practice love, faith, compassion, loyalty, grace, hope, and peace. I want to be that unselfish, giving, secure mom that Chuck Swindoll talked about above. I need His grace and His blessing in order to be that, because I sure can't get there by myself.