Growing Kids - Not Grass

THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB OF ALL
I love kids and mothers! My love for both is the reason for the Growing Kids Not Grass blog. Having been a mother for 40 years, I declare that it is the most difficult yet rewarding job there is! It is never ending, always needed, and for me, totally fulfilling! That is not to say there were not tough times in growing our kids, times when our smooth paths were interrupted by boulders of challenges! The true reality is that all of the hard times paved the way for the good times and proved to have purpose for God's greater plan. The mere thought of my kids and grandkids bring a smile to my face and joy to my heart. That sentiment, I realize, sadly, is not shared by all mothers. It is a tough, challenging, often heartbreaking and backbreaking endeavor. I realize that there may be some of you who are facing difficulties with your children that go far beyond the normal challenges.Whatever the situation may be, please know that my heart goes out to you. I pray that God is your sustainer, strength, and help through every situation. Yours is a heavier load than most mothers face.
I want to pause a second and applaud all of you mamas! You hold many subtitles---counselor, comforter, encourager, doctor, domestic engineer, taxi driver, coach, chef, short order cook, and limitless others! The plain fact is you are a corporate leader, the CEO of your own conglomerate of "businesses". You are expected and required to be expert in many fields, with little or no training!
Despite that job description, motherhood has been minimized in importance by the world. Women are sometimes belittled for being "only a mother." In reality, it is the single most important "job" you can have because your parenting has the power to affect the world and its future! I know it is hard. I know it sometimes seems thankless, hopeless, exhausting, and never ending. Hold on sweet one, there will come a day, sooner than you think, you will look back on the years and wonder how they disappeared so quickly.
Humor me a minute and step WAYYYYY back in time with me, before you were even born!  Now stretch that imagination and think big flowers in the hair, psychedelic colors, bell bottom pants, and platform shoes. Wait! that sounds like today! But it was 1977 in a Safeway grocery store in Tyler, Texas. I was pregnant with our third child, Clint, and our 5 year old Jason, and 3 year old, Carri were in tow. What happened is emblazoned in my mind because although a minor event, it was a defining moment for me.
A lady was in the checkout line in front of me and was probably in her late 40's or early 50's. She noticed my precious munchkins and how totally adorable they were. :) She commented on the fact that she had 4 kids but they were all grown, either married or in college. I remember being sad for her that her kids were grown and out of the house and thinking how happy it made me to know that mine were little. It would be a long, long time until I would be in her shoes with grown kids. SO WRONG!!! That was 35 years ago, but it seems a blink away! I often wish I could turn back the clock and have them snuggle in my lap, smelling so sweet after a bubble bath and all oohy goohy doggone cute!
But those days are gone with the wind. This is where the blog title comes in. The Bible tells us that "Children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is HIS reward." Psalm 127:3. We are to never take lightly the responsibility placed on us by God to take care of and cherish His gifts to us. They are not a punishment, a burden, an inconvenience, an interference. THEY ARE HIS REWARD! And as such should be held in high regard and value. The society we live in today vies constantly for our attention. There are so many distractions, whether it is through electronics, media, computer, work, sports, church, clubs, trying to keep a spotless house and showcase yard, friends, Bible study, doing for others------------you fill in the blank. It is harder today to find time for our kids and families than it is to find things to distract us from them. When we turn the mirror toward ourselves, if this is what looks back, I submit to you that the choices we make cause us to settle for second best. God has an order for our lives, and if we live by His design for the family, our priorities will align with Him, bringing harmony to the home and security to the kids. If our homes are lined up with God first, spouse second, kids third, and everything else after that, IT WORKS! You can take it to the bank!
If you find yourself with too much stuff filling your day and not enough time to do them, there is a solution.
God created a day with 24 hours in it, knowing that they provide enough time to get done what we need to get done. Psalm 37:23 says "The steps of a good man(woman) are ordered by the Lord. And He delights in His way." God has planned for us exactly what He wants us to accomplish each day and He has given us plenty of time to do it. Only when we fill our time with things not of His plan do we run out of time.
So, I encourage you to begin each day on your knees asking God to help you to walk in the steps He has ordained for you that day. At the end of the day, if there are things on your list not accomplished, rest in the fact that they weren't on His list and it's okay. One way this is especially helpful as a mom is this: let's say you asked the Lord to help you walk in the steps He plans for you; you make your list of things you think are important to accomplish, and right in the middle of the day, it is evident your little one needs a little TLC from you. Rather than becoming impatient and frustrated with lost time, rest in the fact that God most likely ordained this special moment in your day. Enjoy that sweet, little thing and know whatever doesn't get done can wait until tomorrow. Because today, you are growing kids, not grass! I pray for you, and for me, that our kids will know how much we love them by the way we live our love out to them and that it will be said of us, "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many daughters have done well, but you exceed them all." Proverbs 31:26-29