our life beyond

Being a mama. The most important job I will ever have. I am responsible for not only the "routine" well-being of my children (clothes, food, brushing of the teeth....flushing of the potty) but I'm also molding these little people into who they are going to be later in life, and keeping myself in check so that I am (hopefully) setting a good example. Wow...talk about some weight when you really sit down and think about it. I find it funny that a job with so much riding on it comes with no prior "training" involved. From day one as a parent you quickly adopt the phrase, "fake it to make it". Sure you may have babysat, or worked around little ones, but nothing can truly prepare you for that giant leap into parenthood.

I'll never forget the way my hubs looked when he held our oldest for the first time, the phrase "fish out of water" comes to mind. Of course now, after number 3, he's a pro at not just picking up babies, but rocking, burping, potty training, diapering, teaching, disciplining, etc. The list goes on. But every time we think we are getting it down, they throw another curve ball. Each step of the way they are growing and changing, constantly keeping us on our toes. I would be lying if I said I never sit down and wonder if I'm doing a good job at this whole mama gig.

But every now and again, God blesses me with a moment. A moment when the world around me simply stops (or at least it seems to for me) and I can just look at my little ones and I think "well, I must be doing okay". These moments are truly a gift and I treasure them in my heart. The other day I was lucky enough to not only experience such a sweet moment, but also had my camera nearby to capture it. Talk about a double blessing...that NEVER happens.

I was upstairs laying the baby down for a quick nap, and when I came down this is what I found.

Big kid, reading to his little brother. And not just any book, he was reading stories out of our Children's Bible. It touched my heart in ways I can't express in words. But at that moment I simply stopped and praised the Lord for the three little people he has blessed us with and for that moment, I felt like I must be doing something right.

Now before this beings too sound too "perfect" let me also say that approximately 5.2 seconds after story time ended they were running around the house fighting each other with plastic lightsabers - this would be more of the norm around here. And I love every second of it.