Christmas Countdown 2023….Day 21
“I get to be the mom!”
When I was growing up, that was the little girl’s version of yelling Shot Gun to nab the coveted front seat. Same for our daughters when they were playing “house” in their Little Tykes world. The pinnacle role in any make believe game that took place in a kitchen or involved a doll was to be the mom.
And rightly so.
Kids did what they were told, and sat obediently in their small chairs. The family dutifully made appreciative chewing noises as they lifted empty forks to the mouth, but not in the mouth, because that’s gross.
They sipped air from empty glasses, while the imaginary character of dad said good bye and left to go sit at some desk somewhere and just come home when the whole scene was repeated for dinner.
Mom was the action figure. The main character who was in charge of the make believe world and directed all the actives of everyone else. Mom was the boss of things.
I can remember watching Rachel stand with the yellow plastic phone from her kitchen clasped between ear and shoulder as she put together a meal. She would say “uh huh” and nod her head and add her two cents and I realized this was what I looked like to her and for whatever reason, she liked it.
Being a mom was what I wanted to be more than anything growing up. I remember when my own mother was visiting us once. She observed our three running around under my feet and supper coming together on the stove. Literally on the stove…because I am the messiest cook on the planet. She laughed and said I was a successful woman because I was doing the thing I wanted most to be when I grew up, a wife and a mom.
She was right and while I can’t say I always felt successful, I am thankful beyond words for the ability I had to be home to keep things running and car pools in motion and food on the table and clean clothes in the drawers.
Or on the bed, or in a basket, but mostly in the drawers.
While I have never earned a paycheck for it, being a wife, mom and now grandmother has been my “career” of choice. The jobs I have shared with you (and there are more) added to shaping who I am. The people I met along the way hold treasured places in my story. The ability to add a little to our spending budget while still holding down the fort was good for my morale. Juggling our schedule and knowing I had certain hours committed outside the home gave me better organizational skills.
All work is a gift. Even if you are not paid a salary, the “work’ we do is important. It gives purpose and meaning to our lives. Through our work, we build relationships with other people on the journey. We learn to get along with those who are difficult and we embrace the ones who are so easy to love. I think the motto I have always followed in all my jobs and at home is best expressed in this verse:
Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Colossians 3:17 The Message
I like the way The Message states this verse.
Whatever you do…whether for a paycheck or in service to your family or just because something needs to be done and you are the one that has to do it, do it for Him. It is, in my opinion, the best way to live <3