moments

Not long ago I returned home on a Tuesday night after Bible study group.  Luke had already put the girls to bed, but I could hear Allie still talking and singing softly in her bed, so I crept in quietly to hug her and say goodnight.  When I walked in she smiled really big, and as I grew closer to her bed I realized she was holding something in her hand.  It was a polaroid picture of she and I.  Sometimes if I'm gone when they go to bed (which is rare), she asks to keep a picture of me with her.  My heart melted when I saw it.  After we shared hugs and kisses and talked softly about how our evenings went, I turned around to see Jovie standing in her crib, looking at me with a sweet smile.  She'd been so quiet I assumed she was asleep.  Without uttering a sound, she reached her hands up to me and I scooped her up into a long embrace, her head resting on my shoulder.  After a few moments she leaned back toward her bed, letting me know she was ready to go to sleep.

I walked back out of their room feeling so loved and special.  But if I'm being totally honest, those moments are few.  And that particular day was actually a pretty tough one.  The other day I read this post about how we often feel as mothers.  Essentially we feel invisible... Our days are filled with mundane moments that no one sees or appreciates.  We get the brunt of our children's worst moments, attitudes, and behaviors.  We spend out days tirelessly serving them.  But it's like the author states in her post, "we are building great cathedrals."  We are building a legacy with our family and adding beauty to the world.  And maybe it will be seen or appreciated more clearly someday, or maybe it won't.  But God sees us.  He's walking with us, noticing when we bring Him glory through our mundane moments.  He notices when we are utterly spent and He's ready with open arms for us to come to Him to be filled.

And He gives us gifts of moments now and then like the one I had with the girls the other night to remind me in the midst of it all, there are two little people who love me and who I get to love every day through mundane moments of serving and sacrifice.  Moments which are actually quite extraordinary because if I choose to, I can reflect my heavenly Father in hope that they might see Him through me.

My cup runneth over.

Photos by Emily of Gypsy Ed Photography.  Thank you, friend.