Keep Watering, Moms. Some Children are Late Bloomers

Pop! 

All of a sudden the flowers popped!

 For years I watered this little two-leafed plant. 

The results: 

 one leaf fell off.

 I would have thrown her away, but she was a gift from someone I loved, 

so I kept watering. 

My only goal was keep that one leaf alive. 

Then, 

one day 

another leaf grew, 

and another. 

This week, 

in the dead of winter, 

she popped. 

One flower,

 now two, 

and three on it's way. 

Some children are late bloomers.

 Keep watering, moms!

 When a leaf falls to the ground, 

keep watering, Moms! 

God is creating your beautiful flower

 in His Time, 

in His Way. 

"Train up a child the way he should go:

 and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

 (Proverbs 22:6)

Splashes of Serenity on your day!

A Working Mother Shares Her Heart

#workingmoms #allmoms #don'tgrowup #grabtissues

A working mom shares special thoughts from her journal. Enjoy. Grab tissues.

"My son, today you watched me paint my toenails.  Before school...work — who am I fooling?  You plopped your tough little self down beside me on the carpet at 7:15am and watched as I did my toenails.  How ”tough” can you really yet be, to still be so intrigued by this task? 

Yesterday I watched your first Little League practice.  So excited were you.  Running so fast, hitting so hard, throwing so far...running over to me “mommy are we going to play a real game now?”  Turning to catch my eye and wave from your grounding practice station.  Such a little natural.  So naturally sure of yourself with a ball in your hands and a team around you.  So grown up.  Or so not...

”Mommy sleep with me, on the floor, and DON’T LEAVE!  You can grocery shop TOMORROW AFTERNOON!”  Lining your Critter books up for me to read to you.

 I’ve stopped grumbling about that, ya know - knowing in my wisdom that all this will end.  In knowing that my deepest but most painful wish for you will be for it to end someday.  For I do want you to grow up — I wouldn’t wish for you to not grow up — that’s not what mommies do.  Not that they don’t want to.  Maybe we could find some way to freeze time in its place.  Yes, that must be the solution — just freeze these moments.  Move on when we’re READY 😊  Will mommy ever be ready?  No I think not. 

 

Back to the toenails... “What does it feel like mom?  Paint mine!”

“No son” I told you, “Boys don’t use nail polish.”  But there I go again projecting “bigness” onto you.  BIG boys don’t use nail polish but little boys might sometimes have a painted nail...because they have plopped down next to their mama while she does her nails before work.  And so I kissed you goodbye and had a lump in my throat all day because I did not paint your toenail... while I still could."

 

Praying for working mom's today. Praying for all mom's today. Treasure these moments while you still can. Let them be splashes of serenity to your soul in the chaotic world of mothering,

 

Life Lessons Learned From My Grandchildren

The house is now quiet. Six of my eight grandchildren visited me this week. Oh, how I miss them. Grandchildren are like a splash of serenity in a world where all else is chaos. God tells us in Matthew 18:3, to "become like little children." So, I make a practice of observing little children and learning how to behave.

This week I learned:

Children aren't afraid to fall

But they watch where they are going.

They love without expecting anything in return.

When your hat is on backwards, you are still beautiful.

It's okay to lay down on the bowling alley coaxing your ball to knock down more pins.

It's more fun holding hands than going solo.

Letting someone else go first makes you happy.

Really happy!!!

It's the simple things like a good old dog named Fudge that make you smile.

Life is short. Grandchildren grow too fast. Treasure each moment because before long they are taller than you.

Children are God's Splashes of Serenity in a world filled with sadness. Take time to enjoy them and observe how they live and love.

Treasuring each of you today,

Elaine

My Mother's Day Dreams Come True

All I ever wanted was to be a mom. As a child, my Christmas list consisted of one item--a baby doll. No career aspirations for me--I wanted to get married and have babies.

At age 19, having some female issues, I found myself sitting in an OB-GYN office. As though he was telling me "it's raining outside" the doctor gave his matter-of-fact diagnosis: "You'll never be able to have a baby."

Stunned, speechless, numb, I didn't catch the bus to my apartment. I just walked with no destination in mind. Seeing a telephone booth ahead, I entered this private shelter in a public place. Shutting the door, I crouched down, and cried and cried and cried from the most gut-wrenching pain I had ever felt. When I stopped crying, I called my mother, told her the news, and felt her pain and her hugs across the telephone line as she bore this anguish with me. Thank God for Mothers.

Better yet, thank God for God. The doctor was not God. God is God. And God had a better plan for me. God creates our babies in our wombs, He knows the plans He has for me. God's plan for me was to bless me--to give me three gifts--three babies.

I rejoice on Mother's Day that in God's sovereignty, He allowed me to be a Mom. I don't take that lightly. Many don't have this blessing. I, according to that doctor and the second opinion I also received, was not to have babies. What is impossible for a human body (and in the brains of two doctors), is possible for God. Nothing is impossible for Him.

I thank God for my three wonderful children, Joanna, Elizabeth, and Sam--my three treasures--my three surprise gifts. They exceed any expectations I had of the joys of motherhood. Thank You, God, for allowing me the privilege of bearing them and the fun of loving them and enjoying life with each one now grown to adulthood. Thank You, God, for the thousands of kisses and hugs and sweet love they've given back to me. Children truly are a gift to be treasured from You.

Happy Mother's Day, dear Moms. Treasure the blessing of Motherhood God has given to you.

Splashes of Serenity,

Elaine

The Blessings of Suffering

It was a perfect wedding; yet, all was not perfect. What a mixture of emotions and senses. His lovely daughter's wedding canopied amongst the beautiful trees his own lovely bride planted 25 years earlier. Smiles of joy shown on our faces while silent tears of sorrow wept in our hearts.

No tuxedo for this loving dad. He wore a red shirt sewn from red hot chili pepper fabric his wife made for him on a day when her body was not wracked with multiple sclerosis.

He and his beloved raised two precious girls to adulthood. Now on their eldest's wedding day, he walked the aisle alone in body, but together in spirit with his wife now hospitalized--too ill to enjoy the beauty she had planted in the lawn and in the hearts of her family.

"Your daughters are so lovely." I said in honesty. "Yes, they are. They are just like their mother." He replied. "My neighbor told me when my wife was diagnosed with MS that my children will be better people because of it. He was right." Living in a home where a loved one is chronically ill gives everyone a right perspective on what is truly important in this life.

I remember my own little brother being diagnosed with cancer when I was a teenager. God taught me lessons when I was 16 that I might never have learned otherwise--such as, people are more important than possessions and a bad hair day is not the end of the world.

We parents want to shelter our children from the pain of life. But it could be the best thing that ever happens to them. Praying today for this dear dad, his lovely bride, the newlyweds, and their other precious daughter. May you know a splash of serenity from our Father today.

With love and prayers,
Elaine