Beauty of Life

There is beauty in life and life is beauty. I read this somewhere, but at the moment I can't recall where or who said it. I'd like to add here that there are times when you feel like you can't find the beauty. Life can be hard.

Motherhood: the highest calling a woman can have. Sometimes this calling/job, although great, can be the hardest, dirtiest and the most demanding. This week has proven to be the case. I have not been a Mommy this week. I have been a referee. I have been a janitor. I have been a seamstress. I have been a servant, sometimes willing, but truthfully, sometimes in times like this, an unwilling and selfish servant. Being a stay-at-home mother is the hardest thing I have EVER done in my life. My patience is on a Ferris Wheel going around and around through the cycle of being tried and tested. My heart is often broken. I have cried alone and in front of my children in despair. I have yelled when my temper got the better of me. Self mastery is a muscle I feel I have let atrophy. I was letting my body corrupt my spirit instead of letting my spirit lead my body to a more Christ-like Spirit. During weeks like this, I would like to go out, excuse me, RUN OUT, of the house and find a dark cave to hid in, but I can't. I am the MOMMY. Running is NEVER an option! Well, unless it is to chase down a child who refuses to get their diaper changed or nose cleaned or get tickled; then it is ALWAYS the option.

In my dark cloud of "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I am reminded of a truth. A gentle soft voice reminds me. A voice that cannot be heard with the ear, but with the heart. A voice talking from the Spirit to the spirit. "This is what life is about....families," He says to me. A family is forever and I am working on myself and towards bringing my family together. This is why I am here. To learn. To grow. To be more like Jesus Christ. To serve. "When I am in the service of my fellow [children, husband] I am in the service of my God." My job may at times appear to be a thankless job, but in reality it is the most rewarding job. My reward will be gained in the eternities. In the eternities, when my children, husband and I will be together forever because of the atonement of Christ. When we will forever be in the presence of God, The Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. This is our life's goal. This is our family's goal.

Until then, I will wipes booger filled noses, wipe bottoms, clean dishes, clean clothes, clean bread crumb infested floors, scold a child for coloring on the walls, floor, or chairs. I will scold them for spiting and saying silly words like "poop" and for fighting. I will wipe tears. I will give hugs. I will listen. I will teach and hopefully, I won't yell. I will wash dishes only to wash them again. I will wash clothes only to wash them again and again. I will strive to be an example. I will learn from my little examples. I will live in the kitchen cooking meals and cleaning. I will read stories. I will explain what we have read in the scriptures. I will try to keep up with the housework (NOT very well). I will teach my child to read, write, spell, and compute numbers. I will help name toys. I will kiss. I will say, "I love you. I am proud of you."

After all of this WORK, I will sit back, maybe sigh, and hope I have enough energy left to get up and fold the mountain of laundry that never seems to be done and/or finish cleaning up after dinner. Sometimes I do, but mostly I don't have the energy to do anything but sit and watch my husband read the news. I know it will all be waiting for me tomorrow morning. I'll get up and hopefully, remember to pray before I start my calling all over again....hoping (remembering) I can do a better job this new day then I did the day before.

Until then, I will STRIVE to remember the message I received from my Comforter during the day...."Be Still My Soul The Lord is On Thy Side."

Exploding BB

This week my oldest daughter came into my room while I was changing. She looked horrified as she said, "Mommy, your belly button is exploding! The baby is going to come out now."

"The truth from the mouths of babes," I thought, "Yes, my stomach is very big."

I put a band-aid on my belly button after she said this and I saw it in the mirror. Yes, it did look (not to mention feel) like it was about to explode. I usually do this in month 8 of my pregnancy (put a band-aid on it), but was procrastinating this time. Why? I do not like how it looks and feels when it pops out. Plus, a band-aid keeps it from showing up under your clothes.

Belly Fat

I have one month left until the new baby comes. As you can imagine I am pretty uncomfortable and rather large. My daughter turns around while eating lunch today and says, "Mommy, your belly is big and fat."

Later, during evening family prayer, my son squeezes in next to me. He barely has enough room to sit next to me since I can't close my legs anymore. As I move up to give him room, under his breath he says, "I don't have any room because you're stomach is too fat."

I wanted to laugh when they told me this, but I did not want to encourage bad behavior. Instead I ignored it. I know I missed a teaching opportunity, but I knew I would laugh. I can just imagine them saying this to someone and embarrassing me. I'll circle back with them later.

Sense of Humor

My husband is proud of my son's sense of humor (he is a chip off the ol' block).

Last night my daughter came into the living room upset because her brother had said mean things to her. I asked her to tell me and she said he had called her the Grinch. He told her she was going to destroy Christmas, and she wasn't going to receive any toys from Santa. She was very upset. I asked her if she was in fact the Grinch and she shook her head. "Well, than what are you worried about?" I told her.

Upon hearing all of this, as I was scolding my son, my husband turns and says, "You said that?" then he began to laugh. I told him to stop it as it was encouraging my son torment his sister, but then I couldn't help myself and laugh. Not a good parent moment for either of us.

No Smoking Allowed

From a dear sweet lady in my ward...

She was telling us her grandson saw someone buying or smoking cigarettes, and he said, "You should not smoke those things. They are bad for you." His mother was embarrassed. The lady next to them said, "See that man over there. You need to tell him." It was her husband.

Observation

This afternoon my brother that lives next door (that I hardly ever see, I might add) came over to visit. My son went up to hug him, and sat on his Uncle's lap. While Uncle was busy talking, my son was observing his hair. Then he said, "You have a lot of white in your hair. That is because you are getting old."

Future Embarrassed Teen

From a friend with a toddler daughter....

"I guess my daughter isn't going to wait until her teenager years to tell me she doesn't like the way I look....this morning she told me, "Fix your hair, Mama, please!"

Meal Time

From a family member:

A toddler was asked if she was eating or cutting up. Her reply, "I'm cutting up."

I Want To Dye!

I was sitting in the living room reading. My son came over to me and started looking at my hair. He said I had lots of white stuff in my hair, and wanted to know what it was. I was not sure what he meant, but figured it might have been from the tree outside. So, I shrugged and continued to read. He said, "There is too much white stuff in your hair. I'm going to take it out." "OK," was my reply.

He proceeded to pull out hair! He was talking about my gray hair!!!!! (You know you need to dye your hair when your 4 year-old son starts pulling out the grays! And yes, I did dye my hair as soon as possible.)

Welcome Song

When we have a visitor in Primary we ask them to come up and we sing them a welcome song.

Two boys visiting went to the front of Primary and we sang, "Hello, Hello we welcome you this day." After the song was over, he turned to the Chorister and said, "I did not like that song. It was not special."

Who are your siblings?

During Sharing Time (lesson given during Primary with all or 1/2 of the Primary children), a teacher was talking about families and siblings. She pointed to a child and said, "You have two brothers and one sister." He answered, "No, I have one brother and twins."

Super Lucky-A Lesson on the Temple

I was teaching a class how important it is to go to the Temple, and how much of a blessing it is to our lives. The children were looking at me with blank faces. I was having a hard time getting them to understand how much of a blessing it was to go there. Finally, I found the words to get them to understand. I said, "People who go to the Temple are Super Lucky."

Their faces changed as they understood what I meant by how good it was to go to the Temple. With a huge smile on her face, a girl said, "My parents were Super Lucky, because they were sealed in the Temple." Then her face got sad when she looked at me, "Sister Lowry, you are not Super Lucky. You're just lucky because you have not been to the Temple."


Being a convert, my husband and I were married outside of the Temple, and at the time of this lesson we had not gone yet.

Tattoo

While teaching a class, a little girl looked at the tattoo on my foot and said, "You are not suppose to have tattoos! The Prophet said so." After I clarified how I was not a member when I got it, and yes, she was correct about getting a tattoo being a bad choice. She was fine, and that was that.

The New Dress

I was pregnant, and because I have been having my children back-to-back, I have more maternity clothes then nursing clothes. A boy in Primary had been absent for a while. He saw me and asked me if I was wearing a new dress. I felt a compliment coming on about my dress, and was eager to hear it. I do not know of any woman who doesn't want (at least I think they would) to hear a compliment about their dress.

This is what he said after I told him it was an oldie, but I had not worn it in this ward before:

"Wow! You got fat!" Serves me right for wanting to feed my vanity. Honesty, you've gotta love it. I could not stop laughing.