doing crazy life together

For the past 2 years, one of the things that I am most thankful for in my life is a community of women in my life that are at the “next stage” from me.  These women have graduated from college, gotten married, and have young children.  With a desire to one day be a wife and mother, I love spending time with them because they teach me so much more about life and godliness than I could ever learn in a college classroom.

I had the honor and privilege of spending time with two of these women and their children yesterday for an afternoon.  There was no plan, no schedule of what we were to do, but that’s the beauty of this relationship: it’s simply doing life with these ladies…and I love it and thrive on it!  I arrived at J’s house around 3:30 in the afternoon, during naptime.  Her two kids would be asleep for about another hour so we got to sit in the living room, sip coffee, and catch-up on life.  We talked about everything under the sun: Jesus, recipes and Pinterest, growing in grace, kids, confession, babies, the Bible, health, church, what would be for dinner, etc.  You name it, we probably covered it!  

About 4:30pm, after discussing how long the kids were sleeping (which was about 4 hours, for the record), L arrived with her 10-week-old baby girl. Baby Girl A had just come from the doctor and had gotten four shots that morning (ouch!).  Even though Baby Girl A was sleeping and J’s two babies were sleeping, the peacefulness was short lived.  J’s two babies (Toddler Boy A and Infant B) and Baby Girl A was soon to follow.  We moved to the kitchen where snacks were given to the three kids and me!  Dinner (which was to be homemade turkey meatballs with pasta, red sauce and broccoli) was soon to begin.

During dinner preparation, which, to my observation, becomes a much more difficult task when you’ve got two hungry children, the kids were stripped down to just their diapers, and put in a high chair.  The faces that they gave J, L, and me during food prep was precious as they excitedly awaited their meal.  Homemade turkey meatballs, pasta and red sauce, and broccoli was soon put on their trays, and I soon saw why they wore no clothes.  These two clean, hungry children soon had full bellies and red bodies (Toddler Boy A soon acquired something resembling a clown mouth…you can use your imagination on that one). 

After dinner, kids covered in sauce and all, we moved to the back deck where two naked children played so very happily in a bucket of hose water and J gave them a mini-bath outside.  Such joy was seen on these babies’ faces.  They loved splashing, playing, and throwing every toy into the bucket.  J would spray Toddler Boy A with the hose and a huge smile came over his face as he ran around the deck laughing and giggling.  It was a sad day to come inside and get dressed, which wasn’t exactly getting dressed at all, but rather changing the wet diapers and just putting a shirt on. 

Dinner was soon done, the kitchen had been cleaned up and Baby Girl A was soon getting fussy (I would too I had just had received 4 shots in my legs), and Infant B and Toddler Boy A were getting restless.  A WALK!  That’s the key!  Three kids, two moms, me, and a dog were soon out the door!  J put her two kids in a double baby jogger, in nothing but a shirt and diaper (which was too cute to even try to explain), L put Baby Girl A in her car seat with her own stroller, and I leashed Spotted Dog B.  These kids love to walk! Well, last night that seemed to be the ticket to content and peaceful children – a short little walk around the block.  Toddler Boy A had his sippy cup and puppy (a stuffed animal blanket that is essential for putting him to bed), Infant B (with paci in mouth) almost fell asleep in the stroller, and Baby Girl A was peaceful in the stroller even though she would whine every other second because of the pain from shots. 

Through all this and because of all this chaos (including an almost runaway stroller), I love to spend time with these ladies and learn from them interacting with their kids.  Despite the occasional fussiness of the three kids (which was actually more often than not last night), the love that overflows from the moms is complete evidence of Christ’s love flowing through them.   I only hope they know what a blessing they are to me and how thankful I am to them for letting me “do life” with them and learn from them.  These women are truly amazing.  Whoever says that being a stay-at-home mom is not a full-time job has clearly never spent an entire day with one such woman. These women are first of all their husband’s helper, and to their kids they are nurses, cooks, cleaners (both of the home and the children), chauffeurs, coaches, hug-givers, boo-boo fixers, and most importantly they are Jesus to their children. They are patient, gentle, compassionate, giving, and self-sacrificing.  Through them, I see no higher calling than for a women to be a mother.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.   2 Corinthians 12:9