Some Things are Better Shared

If you are an introvert, like me, you might notice you have a hard time sharing experiences with others. My first instinct is to do things by myself. I think it will be simpler and easier that way. But when I take a risk and decide to share that experience with someone else, I have to admit that it is a richer and funner activity than I ever could have had if I was alone.

It had been weighing on me for a few weeks now. I needed to start my tomatoes in indoor-pots so that they could go outside when garden-planting time came. But I kept putting it off. I really wanted to do it when the girls weren't around. Or I wanted to do it on a day nice enough that the mess could go outside. But it was time, it was windy, and it was something I knew both the girls would enjoy doing. So I shared.

It was messy.
It was a little frustrating.
It was so much fun.

If I had done this by myself it would have taken a third of the time. But hey, the girls were happy and learning for nearly an hour as we planted our tomato seeds in a dozen little pots. 

I felt like a good mom, too.

It was worth getting potting soil all over the kitchen floor.
And the memories of Adela talking to her "baby tomatoes" and telling them to go to sleep while Micaela giggled and rubbed potting soil between her hands, those are the memories that fill motherhood with confirmation that life is rich. That life is full. That life is beautiful.

I hope God pushes me each and every time I am faced with something I need to share with someone else. Memories are gifts. Some things are so much better shared. 

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"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Luke 6:38 NIV