Last week was a little rough.
It started with a short (praise the Lord) flu bug for James and ended in a nasty case of mastitis for me. In between there was lots to do and lots of busyness, lots of messes piled on messes, exhaustion, and some frustration.
Nothing horrible. Just a little rough.
It is all a sacrifice, which we moms know, of course. The sacrifice of our bodies with so many little people constantly needing it- needing to be fed, to be held, to be carried, to be cared for. The sacrifice of our time, when there seems so much to do, but no time to get anything done. The sacrifice of our home being clean and orderly and beautifully decorated.
You more experienced mother's don't have to tell me. I know: it is a season, it will be gone in the blink of an eye, I will look back on these days and miss them...
And so I sit down in the middle of the mess to play dolls, or build Legos, or read one more story. I ignore the dishes, the laundry, the clutter to have a wild dance party. I give another hug, have another snuggle at five'o'clock with no dinner in the oven and two children laying on me. I wake up to the cries of three littles wanting to get into bed with me, or eat, or go potty, or needing a drink of water, or their sheets and jammies changed due to an accident.
I throw open the Christmas decor boxes and let the kids go to town, resulting in a very busy mantel, lights everywhere, and a tree that was clearly decorated by people well under five feet tall. (I told a friend recently: "It looks as though our house got in a fight with Christmas, and Christmas won.")
I know that there is no better use of my body, my time, and my house. The Lord gave these things to me to give to my family. And despite the lack of sleep, the frustrations that may come, and the disorderly state of the house, my family is the greatest earthly blessing and joy I could ever have.
Happy second-to-last-weekend-before-Christmas!
Ashley
Some posts from a year ago:
our Advent activity calendar
wonders of His love
and (what a nerd) trying to decide what to wear for date night
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