A Day of Thankfulness

There are times when I have felt so strongly the grace of God in my life. When Zach was two and a half, he wandered away from our campsite by a river. We each thought the other person had him. We found him a few sites down playing in the dirt, not floating in the river. Grace. Last month, Luke stopped running when I screamed stop, as a car that was backing out, almost hit him. Grace. The other day Josh got a hold of some marbles and put them in his mouth. Grace.

Today, we woke to the news of a terrible of the earthquake in Chile, where my sister lives. I have now found that she is fine, but her apartment is no longer safe to live in or go into. Grace.

We did not deserve to have our family to go unscathed in these instances. Grace. We live in a constant state of grace. Some days I can see it a bit easier. There are some days when the only prayer that I can pray is "Thank you God." There are no other words. Do you think He grows tired of hearing that? Do I ever grow tired of hearing those words from my kids? No. Never.

Thank you God. Thank you for giving us another day with each other. Thank you for the breath that I have in me today. Thank you for sending Jesus so that we have no fear of death. Thank you God.

Being Real

I attend MOPS. It is a group of ladies that are all going through the same thing. We all are mothers of preschoolers. On the Thursdays that I have MOPS I get up early and fix my hair and put on makeup and make sure that my outfit is cute. I am sure that the rest of the mommies are doing the same thing. The funny thing is that on the rest of the days of the week, I am putting my hair up, wearing sweats and my goal for the day is to get a shower. So when I arrive at MOPS all looking mommy chic, do the other moms see the real me? Do they see the mom that needs an extra set of hands? The mom that can barely find the time to shower let alone put on makeup? The mom that really needs someone to listen as I voice the fears of raising 3 boys and wanting them to grow up but not grow up too soon. Do they see the mom that really needs a friend to come along side me and say "You are doing a good job. Keep it up." What they see is a lady that looks good on the outside. She looks the part of a supermom. I have to let them into the crazy that I sometimes am. I have to reveal that I don't have it all together and that I sometimes feel like cashing in my mom badge. I have to take off my supermom mask and show them my real self. If I don't show them, will they ever show me their hurts and struggles? And if we don't, can we gain anything from knowing each other?

Maybe you don't attend MOPS, but perhaps at church or work or with your family you have a mask that you wear, I challenge us all to take one step and let our masks fall. To be real with each other. For only when we are real and honest, can we really gain from our relationships with each other.

P.S.- And when someone takes a chance and is real, put down your cell phone, stop what you are doing and look them in the eye and listen to their words and also their heart. For they are giving you the chance to meet the real them. And you may only get this one chance.