It’s easy to overlook our greatest gifts.
They can get lost in the mundane of day to day life; overlooked under all of the “normal.” At times, I lose the fight inside of myself for them.
One of the greatest gifts God has ever given me annoys the mess out of me sometimes.
My introverted self loves to be alone. It’s how I decompress and restore. Anxiety begins to creep in when I want some alone time only to have some of my greatest gifts burst through my door wanting to be with me. “Mom! Mom! Mom! What are you doing in the bathroom?” Well, what do you think I’m doing??? Can I get a minute! It leaves me feeling aggravated.
One of my greatest gifts will leave his dishes on the table. At times, he wants to talk when I want silence. He doesn’t seem to be able to find the ketchup on the shelf I told him it was on. And how dare he not want to watch my favorite movie with me again! It can feel frustrating.
It surprised me to hear what those who have survived devastating tragedies say about the loved ones they lost. They say that it is the “normal” they miss the most.
The normal.
It’s the slamming of back doors, the crayons left on the carpet, the way they closed the chip bag, the underwear laying beside the dirty clothes basket. It’s their dirty dishes laying around, the messy playroom, and the sound of our name on their lips.
We take advantage of normal, but we don’t mean to. We long for more because we have become accustomed to the good things that we have, and we end up sacrificing some of our greatest gifts in that pursuit.
I don’t want to have to lose my greatest gifts to recognize that the “normal” they bring is such a blessing to my life. Just the ordinary day-to-day messes simply means there is life in the house.
Life.
I want to live out all of these ordinary moments fully aware that I am indeed living a blessed life. That I am living among some of the greatest gifts that God has ever given me. To hear “Mom!!!” for the hundredth time, means I have children who adore me and want to be with me. To have a husband who wants to sit beside me and talk, means he loves me. To have friends who call to share their heartache with me, means I am trusted.
To have the mess, means I have the love, and that is one of the greatest gifts of all.
Lord, help me to never miss this truth.
And on the really tough days, I choose to remind myself of these motherhood truths to quiet the chaos in my heart.
