Children Are A Gift From God

I actually have two different parts to this post. Part One is from before I left the house this morning. Part two is from now. I went to a charity brunch/auction this morning for an organization called Beautiful Feet. All of the proceeds went to the Crisis Pregnancy Center. The reason why I'm separating this post into two parts is, for one, I couldn't finish my earlier segment due to the chaotic nature of the morning. Secondly, my attitude has changed greatly since this morning. So, here goes.

Part One (6:45am):

As I begin this post, I'm trying very hard to wipe a scowl from my face. It's mostly gone, but not quite. We woke up to the kids fighting at just before 6am. Isn't that always nice on a Saturday morning? And it just so happens that this is the one day when Sarah's gymnastics class was cancelled, so we actually didn't have to rush to get up. Anyway, I decided to stay in bed pretending to be asleep and see if they would stop arguing. Well, it turned into crying...loud crying. So, I dragged myself out of bed and went into the girls' room to see if I could get them to play in there for a little while longer. No such luck. As soon as Sarah saw me, there was no way I was getting out of there without her. I got her out of bed and tried to interest her in some weebles. Strike two. She was already attached to me at the hip with her legs squeezed around my waist. But then, I opened their blinds and saw the most beautiful sunrise I've seen in a long time. It was a giant pink ball rising up from the low clouds which were painted all different shades of pink and purple. We stood and watched it together. (I'm trying to make this moment sound really profound and beautiful.) It actually was quite beautiful, and the moment lasted for all of two seconds because Hailey started whining about needing breakfast RIGHT NOW!

As I have been typing this I have gotten up at least ten times...no joke. Here are a few of the reasons why:

- Sarah has begun a new tradition of "utensil swapping" in the middle of meals. It seems she gets bored with her spoon or fork rather quickly and feels the need to switch them out. This means that she puts her milk laden spoon back in the silverware drawer and switches it out with another spoon. This has happened twice in the past 5 minutes.

- They can't keep their feet off of each other at the table, which results in cries of, "Mom, her toenail scratched me! Mom, make it so she can't reach me anymore!"

- Hailey demanded more cereal and milk and then refused to eat it. I made her to sit down and finish. She did. But then I hear, "Hey mom, look at me!" I turn to look and there is her bowl on her head, milk running down her face. At least it was mostly gone. So, I had to clean her up (and try not to laugh.)

- Sarah continues to think that the floor would be an excellent place for her food to go, rather than in her mouth. She then thinks of how much fun it would be to get up and squish it with her toes. Lucky for me, Cheerios don't squish too easily. Especially when they haven't been in the bowl long enough to get soggy...sigh.

Part Two (2:30pm):

As you can tell from part one, I was pretty frazzled this morning. I am not frazzled anymore, I am humbled. All of the ranting and raving about the kids and how they drove me crazy this morning seems so pointless now. As I mentioned earlier, I was at a charity brunch this morning for the Crisis Pregnancy Center. There was a woman and her husband that shared the story of their daughter, Bethany. She was born on January 22, 2009 and lived for ten minutes. She had several serious medical problems and they were told over and over again by medical professionals that she should abort the baby. They stood up to everyone and decided that even if the baby didn't make it, they were going to keep it. They shared a video of Bethany's ten minutes here on earth. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. It was so beautiful, and so heartbreaking at the same time. You could see how blue the baby's face was nestled in her pink outfit and hat. She was so tiny, and so beautiful. My heart broke for them as they stood up as man and wife to share with us what they went through just a few short months ago. They were both sobbing and struggling to speak, but they were so very strong at the same time.

There was another video that included several young women who had almost had abortions, but changed their minds and kept their babies. I was so humbled being there and realized how fortunate I am to have two wonderful, intelligent, beautiful daughters. I know that there will still be days when I am frazzled, but I have a very strong reminder now that I need to cherish these days while my babies are young and at home with me. What a privilege I have to be able to stay home and raise them the way I want to raise them. With love, a compassion for others, in the knowledge of the Lord, to be kind and gentle, and on and on. Someone once told me that when you have small children, the days seem so long but the years fly by too fast. That is really true. Some day, not too long from now, my girls will be all grown up. I need to make sure that we are connected to one another, that our bond is strong. I don't want one of my daughters to end up on a video like the one I just watched this morning. I have a tremendous obligation to make sure I do whatever I can to prevent that from happening. Not just to my own girls, but to girls and women everywhere. They need to know that there is hope and that abortion is not the answer. They also need to know that even if they have had an abortion, there is redemption and forgiveness from a Savior who loves them. I plan on volunteering at the center in my area and watching what the Lord will do in these women's lives, and how many children may be saved because of it.

Sometimes we need a reminder of just how precious our children are. I couldn't wait to get home and hug them and kiss their little cheeks. I am so happy that God chose me to be a mother. It's not easy, but it's worth every minute.