Thoughts on Motherhood

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…
{God} has made everything beautiful in its time
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11a

Sonogram pictures, alien movements in your stomach, explosion of cellulite in places you can't see, waddling, pain, wonder and awe. Sleepless nights, spit-up stains, teething for a year, a smile, a baby giggle. And so it begins.

The endless and amazing journey of motherhood. Motherhood demands finding joy in the mundane. There are days you don’t want to answer to the name “momma” and days when you just wish they would say ‘momma’ and not ‘moooom’.

It is a battle to find yourself; creating a new role that grows, changes and evolves through different stages of life. So much is required. So much is taken.

God is the sustainer of the Universe and the sustainer of Mothers. HE is who you depend on when the cheerios are flying, when the fever doesn’t subside, on your first run to the Emergency Room, as you sit outside your child’s room while he is in ‘time out’ and as you see your child walk out the front door and onto the school bus.

Jesus loved to speak in parables. Parables were stories, short- some of them only a sentence or two , that were extremely long on powerful and life giving truth. Mothers tend to talk to one another in parables. Advice floats around any playground, waiting room, and biblestudy class. Sometimes the advice is blatant, but most often, it is told through a story, a recounting of past experience or a commiserating moment. Sometimes you appreciate the advice, latch onto it, and at other times you just tune out.

Tuning out- another gift acquired by becoming a mother.

These moments are basic reminders of this truth: to savor every moment you have with your child, realizing that there is a time for everything and God has made everything beautiful in its time. To remember: put everything in the eternal perspective, taking each day one at a time- while preparing little hearts for eternity.

Motherhood is not for the faint of heart. It is an intense balancing act made up of many dichotomies. You meet the needs of yourself, your husband, your children while serving and loving God. You clean the house and go on a date with your husband. You hug your child and you discipline your child (or you discipline your child and then hug your child). You become a gourmet cook as a newlywed- to make peanut butter sandwiches as a mother. You look through magazines and admire the designer clothes just to get up the next morning and throw on the sweats. You are filled with warm fuzzies looking at your children sleeping and want to pinch their heads off as soon as they wake up.

Motherhood- pulling, pushing, gnashing, tearing, and... loving- more than you ever thought yourself capable. Is it any wonder Mothers are exhausted and amazing? Props to the moms out there!

xoxo- Julie

Life with Raney Grace- First Grader

Life with Raney is never boring...as she starts First Grade- I am celebrating her with a few things that have come out of her mouth over the past couple of weeks...

Raney: "I am so sad Patrick is not in my class, but at least I can look at his picture in the yearbook! "
Parker: "Raney, you will see him at Recess!"
Raney: "Mom, I will see him at recess! "

Raney singing, "God...you are so powerful....gooder than me!"

Raney: "When I am a grown-up, Mom, will you let me have kids?"

Raney: "Mom, will you still think I am cute when I am big?"

Me: "Raney- I told you, do NOT talk to strangers!"
Raney: "Mom, how is he a stranger if he told me who he was?"
Me: "He is a stranger if I do not know him and if you haven't asked me if you can meet him"
Quiet for a little while...
Raney: "Mom, why does God make strangers?"

Me: "Raney do you want to play Lacrosse like Parker?"
Raney: "I don't know...maybe..."
Me: "Let's try it, if you don't like it you can go back to soccer in the Spring."
Raney: "Can I wear my soccer SHOES (cleats) when I play Lacrosse?"
Me: "Sure!"
Raney: "Okay, then I would LOVE to play Lacrosse."

I am getting braces later this month. Raney was with me when I met with the orthodontist. She was very suprised that 'Grown-ups' get braces. So she asked the orthodontist, "Do animals get braces?" I thought, how ridiculous, and quickly tried to get her to be quiet (I had been trying frequently). The orthodontist then replied, "Actually, yes, I even put an appliance in a lion a few years back!" Who knew?!?!?

Raney: "Can God hold up the world with his pinkie?"
Katherine: "Raney- God has the whole world in His hands..."

Our car breaks out into song.

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

This is the first year that all three of my kids will be in school the whole day! Am I happy? Am I sad? I am not sure what to feel, except I am looking forward to school starting. It is time.

People keep telling me, and I have found myself repeating: "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel". And yet...I wonder?

I am really starting another type of tunnel- and one day I will see the light at the end of that one...and then start again. Because, I think, as a parent- it is never easy. And it never ends. Whether your children are all under the age of 5, or starting school, or starting to drive and date, or heading off to college, or getting married, or starting families of their own, or...ever. You are always a parent.

Those first few years were not easy...but they brought their own joys. Some things that helped me along the way was laughter, time with God and time with other mothers.

When we lived in Texas- MOPS was my saving grace. I started when Parker was 7 months old. It was not always easy getting there and I couldn't do the crafts to save my life- but the fellowship and the looking beyond myself was a huge gift.

I joined not knowing anyone and came away with many friendships. I loved actually eating a meal without a child on my lap, I loved getting dressed for a purpose, I loved hearing tips on how to be a more Godly woman, a better mother, and a creative genius. I am not sure I achieved any of those- but it gave me hope and inspiration to hear other women share their own journeys.

As my children grew older, I went to another MOPS group and was a 'table leader'. I loved it! You see, since I had THREE children I became the veteran to those new mothers. Who knew?

I knew I didn't have it together. I knew that on the way I had spilled my egg dish on that sharp turn as I was trying to feed my youngest with my arm over the seat, while yelling at my oldest to be quiet, and trying to get my middle to keep her shoes on. But those very experiences enabled me to encourage.

And when we moved to Virginia, I joined a 'Wednesdays for Women' group at our Church. For two years, the women there encouraged me. I was consistently late, and many times Raney was just wearing a jacket and diaper since she was severely carsick and had thrown up on the way, but God blessed my time with those women and with Him. One of the women even brought me a LARGE coffee can for the car with a lid for those throw-up experiences...what a priceless gift!

Most recently, I have loved being part of a small group- going through the book of John (and other topics) while living in the messiness of life.

There are times I have taken a break from community. Whenever I find myself having a 'pity party' and I complain to my mother- she pushes me to find a Bible study, get in with a group of women, saying, "Julie, don't you remember how you loved it?" And I have done the same with her. She is with a group of women she has known for years and years, but sharing Bible Study together is something they hadn't done since their kids were young. I am excited about joining Community Bible Study.

And I wonder, what's next? Where is God going to take me now?

All I know is that I am seeking, waiting expectantly for God, celebrating where I have been, and where I am going.

I encourage you to get connected to some type of fellowship or community. It really doesn't matter what stage in life you are in- there is a group of women waiting just for you.