Welcome to Guest Post Month at The MOB Society! Today’s post come from Lauren Souers, mother of three and author of A Good Tired.com. Please welcome her!
There are so many things that are easy to love about your own little boy:
His seemingly natural ability to make a variety of engine noises before he can even speak.
The way he adores his mommy…especially when her kisses are like magic on a scraped knee.
His boyishness! Whether he’s into worms and bugs, or trucks and tractors, or sports…your little stinker is so cool!
What a blessing our sons are. And that is no cliché…it is a promise. For “Children are a heritage from the Lord…a reward.” (Ps. 127:3) Children are always a blessing. So…why doesn’t it always feel like little blessings are walking, running, stomping through my house? If I’m honest with myself, not everything is easy to love about my little boy.
Over the years, I have been continually convicted over my skewed view of thankfulness. Sure I’m thankful for the gift of parenthood while I’m rocking a handsome little baby boy to sleep. But I believe the Lord requires more from us. What glory it must bring to our Father to thank Him for the messiness involved in raising our children! For our hearts to see even the yucky, exhausting tasks of parenting as true gifts.
This is what has been on my mind lately.
I have been praying for myself…that the Lord would actually point out marvelous things hidden inside the mundane. That what I typically complain about would become a source of joy. His transformation of my attitude started with a diaper…a cloth one to be exact. This particular diaper was one of those that you never forget. You know what I’m talking about. The blowout to end all blowouts. A blowout that actually measured on the Richter Scale.
Did I mention that the deed was done in a cloth diaper? That means this diaper doesn’t get to be tossed out, it gets to be washed. By hand. In my bathtub.
As I’m literally up to my elbows in you-know-what, my mind begins the slippery slope down to Complain-Ville. But fortunately, before anything bitter begins to take root, I am reminded of my desire for a more thankful attitude.
I rack my brain. There must be something that could point me back to Christ as I’m washing out this atomic bomb of a diaper! And then it hit me.
My boy, my darling little boy…worked. His plumbing worked. He ingested food, absorbed the nutrients, and discarded the waste. In my hands (once again, literally) was the proof of a Master Designer who blessed my boy with a working digestive system.
I almost wept with joy. Fortunately, no one was there to witness my weeping over that giant mess…to an outsider it would have looked like I had thrown in the towel on the whole mommy thing.
Since then, the Lord has continued to give me a much bigger picture of the joy of parenting. He has gently reminded me day after day to find delight in my duties, all of them… not just in the cutesy stuff.
As I hang up load after endless load of clothes to dry on the line outside, I bring to mind the perspective of Elisabeth Elliot. Her husband gave his life sharing the gospel with a primitive tribe. Years later, as her friends were complaining about the whiskers that their husbands left in the sink, she said that she would give anything to have her husband’s whiskers fill the sink once again.
So as I hang up those tiny, tiny underwear and mud-stained pants to dry, I thank God that my children are still there to fill up those clothes.He has given us children. Blessings. And it brings great joy to Him when we can treasure everything involved with those little blessings, especially the mundane.
*******************
Lauren Souers is a stay-at-home mom who loves her family and takes joy in working hard to serve them. She has three small children: Rudy, Mark, and Maralyn Mae. She desires to glorify the Lord by doing all she can in the station of life He has her in. Her joy and experiences are shared with her readers on her blog, AGoodTired.com.
Throughout the month of November, we want to thank you, our faithful readers, for sticking by us as we worked through the rebuild of our site. In addition to giveaways, we are also thankful to our contributor, Franchesca Cox of Small Bird Studios, for providing free printables that we can share with you. Enjoy, and thank you for your support!
Lauren-I LOVE your perspective and willingness to see what you have to be thankful for in your son’s mess! So often we get bogged down instead of praying for new eyes to see the beauty of motherhood. This post was an encouragement to me. Thank you~!
sweet momma! loved this post. Thank you for reminding us to see gift in what seems like a chore. your son is one lucky guy to have you caring for him so tenderly! blessings.