Days like these...

Today is one of those days filled with messes, fighting, whining, and feeling defeated. A clean house is a battle I will never win. Just when I think we're making progress with an attitude issue, it resurfaces. I can't seem to even find a moment quiet enough to make a call. All of my hard work seems futile. Today I read this though:


"Everyone to whom God has given wealth, and possessions, and the power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil-this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart." Eccl. 5:19-20

"Blessings, like children, are not ethereal and weightless. Sometimes they feel like they come at you like a Kansas hail storm-they might leave a welt! But if you accept your lot and rejoice in your toil, God will give you the kind of overwhelming joy that cannot remember the details. Motherhood is hard work. It is repetitive and sometimes menial. Accept it. Rejoice in it. This is your toil. Right here. Those are their faces. Enjoy them. The days of your life are supposed to be full of things like this. But joy is not giddy. It is not an emotional rush-it is what happens when you accept your lot and rejoice in your toil. So rejoice in your children. Look them in the eyes and give thanks. You will not even remember the work of all this planting when the harvest of joy overwhelms you."

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches

So in the midst of messes like today's,

I accept my calling, focus on their faces, and rejoice.