The dailyness of it all

I read a great quote on a mom site I love this week...

“Cleaning house while kids are growing is like shoveling snow while it’s still snowing.”

How perfectly, wonderfully true! Sometimes I am so stressed by the fact that NOTHING ever stays "clean" around here! It's almost depressing some days. I know Hubby comes home and wonders what I do all day, though I'm sure he's smart enough not to ask.

As soon as the laundry's done, there's more. As soon as the dishes are done, there's more. As soon as the living room is vacuumed, there's a spill. As soon as the floor's mopped, something sticky falls from the table.

Then there's the endless cycle of keeping kids fed and dry.

I feel like most of my day is spent feeding one kid or the other. Nurse the baby, feed Bug breakfast. Nurse the baby, feed Bug snack. Feed Bug lunch, nurse the baby. Snack for Bug, Nurse the baby. Cook dinner. Feed both kids again. Snack before bed for Bug, nurse baby one last time. Add a few diaper changes in there and your day is already full!

I was so encouraged last year when a speaker at MOPS shared a verse in Zechariah 4, "For who has despised the day of small things?" This is in reference (I think) to the temple being built... how many "small things" occur to make a temple whole? A great many. (Each brick or stone being laid, everything being made level, measuring and remeasuring... in America: picking carpet, arranging the furniture, and hanging artwork...) In the same way there are so many "small things" that comprise motherhood. Sometimes they feel overwhelming, and often they go unnoticed by others, but they are so important as my children are being built just like a temple to the Lord.

This truth has hit me in the gut many times since Bug was born. I wish it were something I could learn once and know it, but alas my human nature creeps in and throws me a pity party when I have a hard mom day! If only I could keep my eyes on Him!