MLK 2015

Hope everyone has had a good MLK holiday.

My husband had to work today, and our daughter not only had her nursing school classes to attend...she also had a HUGE test.

So there's that.

I am thankful and appreciative of the ones who have to work on any holiday. They bless us all, don't they?

I had planned on sleeping later this morning, because Clark did not have school. I heard rumbling around in the kitchen, and didn't go in there for a while...but I finally decided to get up and make muffins for breakfast.

IT'S MONDAY, AFTER ALL.

Truth be told, I'd been in my bedroom watching our local news show, and then Good Morning America after that, and I kept seeing that today was supposed to be a "Day of Service." The reason I stayed in bed for a couple of extra minutes was because I was waiting for someone around here to pick up on that theme.

I'M KIDDING.

When I got up, I heard talking in the living room, and when I walked in there...there sat Clark and Joshua, playing a game on the PS4.

AREYOUKIDDINGME?

Joshua is always an early riser, but Clark-the-Grump can barely get up on time for school...and then he is sullen and grouchy the whole time. He is not a morning person.

AND YET...there he was...up BEFORE 8 A.M. on a HOLIDAY...happily conversing with his older brother.

So today, I made breakfast, lunch and dinner, as usual. I made cookies. I cleaned up my kitchen, finished "buffing" the wax on my kitchen island, did a bunch of laundry and changed the sheets on the beds.

Serving my family.

I doubt that it's what MLK had in mind, but that's what I do. I love to serve my family, and I don't take it lightly that I am able to do it.

If you are a parent or even if you're not...if you have someone who depends on you...that you're responsible for, like a parent, grandparent, friend, neighbor, foster-child, etc...then a holiday is not a day-off by any means.

I am not a short-order cook, altho I have felt like that at times; I am not a maid, altho haven't we all felt like that? I am not a dictator...I just want my kids to learn to follow directions and to be obedient to authority. I am not employed, altho I feel like I work all day until bedtime...and sometimes during the night. I am not a counselor, teacher, nurse, referee, chauffeur, doctor, cheerleader, chef, theologian or sports analyst...altho I have done some or all of those things during my years of parenting. I am, however, an expert at finding lost things, remembering random facts, events, and dates on the calendar for 6 people...and identifying "what's that smell?" I am not stupid or lazy. I'm not wasting my talents or my college degree by being a mom and working hard to create a home for my family.

Updated to add: I'm not speaking for or against stay-at-home moms, or those who work at home, or work from home, or work in a work-place. I'm talking about being intentional with parenting and not judging each other...because everyone, for the most part, is doing the best they can do for their family.

There are so many things I wish I could've done...or could've done better. Don't anyone look to me as any kind of an example. I fail daily. Jim and I...most days...winged it, with God's help and by His grace. I'm just a vessel, wanting to be used by God to make a difference in the lives of my children and others...imperfectly raising 4 imperfect children with my imperfect husband. Serving God, serving others, serving my family...and looking to Him as the one and only all-sufficient One to fill in all the gaps where we are lacking.

I remember reading Angie Smith's book, "Mended," a few years ago. She talked about how when a vase is shattered and pieced back together by loving hands...there are still gaps and jagged edges and things are never back the way they used to be...but because of those gaps and spaces, the light is able to shine through with even more radiance.

In our almost 29 years of parenting, we've had some shattered dreams and unmet expectations. We've had hard times, scary times...times of uncertainty...times of loss; times when we were just hanging on to the HOPE that is Jesus.

Jesus put the broken pieces of our dreams back together, but we are not exactly the same as we were before. 

No ma'am.

Not by a long-shot.

Because now, when we allow Jesus to shine in our lives...His light comes through all of our broken places...every place where our pieces didn't fit back together perfectly...and, hopefully, the Light that is in us will point to God.

That's our hope, anyway.

"...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven." Matthew 5:16