Some of you may know, I've been working on a book for a long, long time now. A devotional for mom's, it's something I'd like to see completed before I'm a grandma! This particular day's devotional seems fitting as we get ready to celebrate moms everywhere:) I've always believed that you don't have to have children to be a revered as a "Mom" for someone...I can think of more than one special woman in my life who wasn't my mom, but who provided me with love and nurturing. So this is to celebrate women everywhere who've offered motherly love to someone in their world!
~ Don’t hurry, don’t worry and take time to smell the flowers~
My husband’s uncle was a man of God, a Capuchin Priest in the Franciscan order. It was in his recent death a little over a year ago that I came to know of this favorite saying of his. Looking back on the 16 years I knew him, it’s easy for me to see how his words played out in his everyday life. An ornery sense of humor and a booming voice, you could feel his presence in a room before he walked in. And once you were with him, you could just feel yourself slow down a bit as you listened to his stories and anecdotes, his tall tales and his true tales. He engaged you with every bit of his being, as he would ask you question after question about your life, your thoughts, and your ideas. After a conversation with him, you just felt better. He’ll be missed on this side of eternity, but we all know Uncle Marvin waits for us at Heaven’s gates!
As moms, I know how hard it is to take those moments to slow down. We have agendas, obligations, tasks (some of which have to be completed just to ensure our wee ones live and breath each day with clean little bodies and well fed tummies!). Don’t I know it, as I sit here ticking off my to do list today. And it’s all we can do sometimes to just survive minute by minute, hour by hour. But God’s soft voice quietly reminds me to live the moment, for my days our numbered. Please don’t think me as fatalistic, just truthful. God has given us a timeline here on earth, not to be taken lightly. We have an important job to do, wives to our husbands and moms to our kids, butwe do this all as children of God. He expects us to live this life in a joyful, earnest way, making the most of the moments we have. Of course, He also knows our hearts and how weary mothering can make us. But that is especially when He calls on us to run to Him, to cast our cares to Him, to throw our worries to the wind. You’ve heard it a million times before….the computer will be there to check email, the bills will be waiting, the laundry will never stop growing, and families will not cease to exist if cold cereal is served for dinner. But our children will be grown before we know it. I don’t want to live with regrets, so I will begin each day with these thoughts from Uncle Marvin: don’thurry, don’tworry and take time to smell the flowers.
My prayer today:
Father, I pray today that you will help me to focus. I know it’s unrealistic to “clear my agenda”, as I have a job to do as wife and mother. But I also know that it is your true desire for me to have joy in these tasks. When I find myself becoming resentful of the many things I “must” do, please God shine my children’s smile my way as a reminder of your love and blessing. Please allow me put aside my tasks with a happy heart as I embrace the moments of mothering; humble me so that I might be able to recognize these earthly tasks are trivial compared to the tasks you have set before me. Thank you God for the gift of each day, to start fresh and new.
Psalm 39:4 (New Living Translation)
4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
~ Don’t hurry, don’t worry and take time to smell the flowers~
My husband’s uncle was a man of God, a Capuchin Priest in the Franciscan order. It was in his recent death a little over a year ago that I came to know of this favorite saying of his. Looking back on the 16 years I knew him, it’s easy for me to see how his words played out in his everyday life. An ornery sense of humor and a booming voice, you could feel his presence in a room before he walked in. And once you were with him, you could just feel yourself slow down a bit as you listened to his stories and anecdotes, his tall tales and his true tales. He engaged you with every bit of his being, as he would ask you question after question about your life, your thoughts, and your ideas. After a conversation with him, you just felt better. He’ll be missed on this side of eternity, but we all know Uncle Marvin waits for us at Heaven’s gates!
As moms, I know how hard it is to take those moments to slow down. We have agendas, obligations, tasks (some of which have to be completed just to ensure our wee ones live and breath each day with clean little bodies and well fed tummies!). Don’t I know it, as I sit here ticking off my to do list today. And it’s all we can do sometimes to just survive minute by minute, hour by hour. But God’s soft voice quietly reminds me to live the moment, for my days our numbered. Please don’t think me as fatalistic, just truthful. God has given us a timeline here on earth, not to be taken lightly. We have an important job to do, wives to our husbands and moms to our kids, butwe do this all as children of God. He expects us to live this life in a joyful, earnest way, making the most of the moments we have. Of course, He also knows our hearts and how weary mothering can make us. But that is especially when He calls on us to run to Him, to cast our cares to Him, to throw our worries to the wind. You’ve heard it a million times before….the computer will be there to check email, the bills will be waiting, the laundry will never stop growing, and families will not cease to exist if cold cereal is served for dinner. But our children will be grown before we know it. I don’t want to live with regrets, so I will begin each day with these thoughts from Uncle Marvin: don’thurry, don’tworry and take time to smell the flowers.
My prayer today:
Father, I pray today that you will help me to focus. I know it’s unrealistic to “clear my agenda”, as I have a job to do as wife and mother. But I also know that it is your true desire for me to have joy in these tasks. When I find myself becoming resentful of the many things I “must” do, please God shine my children’s smile my way as a reminder of your love and blessing. Please allow me put aside my tasks with a happy heart as I embrace the moments of mothering; humble me so that I might be able to recognize these earthly tasks are trivial compared to the tasks you have set before me. Thank you God for the gift of each day, to start fresh and new.
Psalm 39:4 (New Living Translation)
4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
I so want a copy of your book!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful and so relateable prayer you've written!
Dear Karen,
ReplyDeleteWe need your help to raise awareness.
Last summer Amy Rae Elifritz went from being a healthy and happy 20 year old with her whole life ahead to losing her life in a matter of days . . . sadly, this could have been prevented.
Did you know that tampon related Toxic Shock Syndrome is real, relatively common, and can be deadly? Last summer when Amy experienced flu-like symptoms the fact that she was menstruating seemed unimportant. A few days later, on June 13, she died from Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).
Lisa Elifritz, Amy’s Mom, founded You ARE Loved to help raise awareness about the link between tampons and TSS with the goal of saving lives. This summer, our new non-profit organization is seeking to mobilize bloggers to help spread the message and is inviting you to write a blog post on this important topic.
I encourage you to read this note, check us out on Facebook and Twitter, read our informational brochure, view a two part story by the Indianapolis CBS affiliate WISH-TV (part 1 and part 2), see what others have done as a part of our blogging blitz (page of links), and also to do your own research.
When you write about TSS and You ARE Loved, please share the url so that we can include it on our links page.
Thanks in advance for considering the opportunity to partner with You ARE Loved in our effort to raise awareness about tampon related Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).
Suzan Hutchinson
TSS Survivor
Director of Connectivity
suzan@you-are-loved.org
http://you-are-loved.org