  I force a smile when my husband arrives home. We exchange the “Hey, Honey. How was your day?” I say that my day was fine...long... exhausting. The girls, full of energy, jump all over their Papá. An hour later while we sit together on the couch, I feel defeated. There are still dishes in the sink. I might or might not have picked up the floor. I have sixty minutes left to do something else with my life. I should write or study, but my mind is as weary as my body. I have learned to give myself grace. It only took four years of motherhood to realize the beauty of this season. Ask any parent, with children the age of six to sixty, and they will confirm: these early childhood years take a special amount of endurance and heart. It is the most beautiful training we might ever experience. In these years we learn to prioritize. Our kids remind us that they need a balance between healthy meals and healthy time spent with their parents. They pull us out of our obsessions with plans and goals and make us learn to live in the moment with sticky-finger-hugs and bubble baths. We develop a whole new appreciation for spouses, parents, neighbors, friends, and in-laws as we let go of pride and let others have a wholesome share in our little ones’ lives. We learn to relax when we have a moment to do so. The work will always be there, but we won’t let it define us. Our emotional, mental, and physical health begins to demand significance. We learn to let our me-time do double or even triple duty as we combine prayer and workouts and quiet. We earn hearts that know how to serve. Serve our husbands, our children, our family. We understand how critical it is to reach out to others in need. No longer do we take wakeful minutes for granted. Habits, thoughts, and attitudes are weeded and pruned as we start to see ourselves in our children. God becomes and intricate part of our inner thoughts because we know our sanity is best kept in His hands. I could make this list go on and on. Some days it is hard to stay on top of my enthusiasm for motherhood, but I admire how this way of life continues to toughen and soften me. It is intense training ground. LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. Can you think of more ways we are “trained”? What about other areas or seasons of our lives? God wastes nothing. How is He shaping you today?
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